cannabisnews.com: Spy vs. Spy





Spy vs. Spy
Posted by CN Staff on May 20, 2005 at 13:42:31 PT
By Bill Piper, AlterNet
Source: AlterNet 
USA -- Proposed legislation would compel people to spy on their family members and neighbors, forcing all Americans to become foot soldiers in the war on drugs.  Neighbors spying on neighbors? Mothers forced to turn in their sons or daughters? These are images straight out of George Orwell's 1984, or a remote totalitarian state. We don't associate them with the land of the free and the home of the brave, but that doesn't mean they couldn't happen here. A senior congressman, James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), is working quietly but efficiently to turn the entire United States population into informants--by force.
Sensenbrenner, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman, has introduced legislation that would essentially draft every American into the war on drugs. H.R. 1528, cynically named "Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act," would compel people to spy on their family members and neighbors, and even go undercover and wear a wire if needed. If a person resisted, he or she would face mandatory incarceration. Here's how the "spy" section of the legislation works: If you "witness" certain drug offenses taking place or "learn" about them, you must report the offenses to law enforcement within 24 hours and provide "full assistance in the investigation, apprehension and prosecution" of the people involved. Failure to do so would be a crime punishable by a mandatory minimum two-year prison sentence, and a maximum sentence of 10 years.Here are some examples of offenses you would have to report to police within 24 hours:* You find out that your brother, who has children, recently bought a small amount of marijuana to share with his wife; * You discover that your son gave his college roommate a marijuana joint; * You learn that your daughter asked her boyfriend to find her some drugs, even though they're both in treatment.In each of these cases you would have to report the relative to the police within 24 hours. Taking time to talk to your relative about treatment instead of calling the police immediately could land you in jail.In addition to turning family member against family member, the legislation could also put many Americans in danger by forcing them to go undercover to gain evidence against strangers.Even if the language that forces every American to become a de facto law enforcement agent is taken out, the bill would still impose draconian sentences on college students, mothers, people in drug treatment and others with substance abuse problems. If enacted, this bill will destroy lives, break up families, and waste millions of taxpayer dollars. Despite growing opposition to mandatory minimum sentences from civil rights groups to U.S. Supreme Court Justices, the bill eliminates federal judges' ability to give sentences below the minimum recommended by federal sentencing guidelines. This creates a mandatory minimum sentence for all federal offenses, drug-related or not. H.R. 1528 also establishes new draconian penalties for a variety of non-violent drug offenses, including:* Five years for anyone who passes a marijuana joint at a party to someone who, at some point in his or her life, has been in drug treatment; * Ten years for mothers with substance abuse problems who commit certain drug offenses at home (even if their children are not at home at the time); * Five years for any person with substance abuse problems who begs a friend in drug treatment to find them some drugs.These sentences would put non-violent drug offenders behind bars for as long as rapists, and they include none of the drug treatment touted in the bill's name.At a time when everyone from the conservative American Enterprise Institute to the liberal Sentencing Project is slamming the war on drugs as an abject failure, Sensenbrenner is trying to escalate it, and to force all Americans to become its foot soldiers. Instead of enacting new mandatory minimums, federal policymakers should look toward the states. A growing number have reformed their drug sentencing laws, including Arizona, California, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, New Mexico, New York and Texas, and they have proved it is possible to both save money and improve public safety.Simply put, there is no way H.R. 1528 can be fixed. The only policy proposal in recent years that comes close to being as totalitarian as this bill is Operations TIPS, the Ashcroft initiative that would have encouraged -- but not required -- citizens to spy on one another. Congress rightfully rejected that initiative and they should do the same with H.R. 1528. Big Brother has no business here in America. Bill Piper is director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. -- http://www.drugpolicy.org/Source: AlterNet (US)Author:  Bill Piper, AlterNetPublished: May 18, 2005Copyright: 2005 Independent Media InstituteContact: letters alternet.org Website: http://www.alternet.org/DL: http://alternet.org/drugreporter/22048/CannabisNews Justice Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml
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Comment #18 posted by Hope on May 21, 2005 at 19:31:13 PT
Radical Russ
Your blog entry for Friday, May 20, 2005 Oregon HB 5077 - Stealing from the Sickis very interesting. Very. I remember their "concern" that it wouldn't support itself.http://www.radicalruss.net/blog/index.php
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Comment #17 posted by PainWithNoInsurance on May 21, 2005 at 16:09:47 PT
RadicalRuss
I read your blog and really enjoyed it. You make a lot of sense.
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Comment #16 posted by RadicalRuss on May 21, 2005 at 15:21:31 PT:
Know Your DEA Federal Drug Scheduling
How many states have medical marijuana? 10.How many states have medical cocaine, medical methamphetamine, and medical PCP? 50.Learn more at http://www.RadicalRuss.net
Know Your DEA Federal Drug Scheduling
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Comment #15 posted by afterburner on May 21, 2005 at 10:42:07 PT
Starts Today!
Entheogenesis 2. 21 May, 2005. 
From Darkness Back to Light 
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4083.html{This years theme is "From Darkness Back to Light" and will have a focus on the use of entheogens from the time of the Dark Ages, when these substances were widely surpressed and were limited to occult use following up to our modern age of information when the entheogens returned to their former popularity.} Visit Entheogenesis 2005 website
http://entheogenesis.ca/entheogenesis2005/framesets/home.html
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Comment #14 posted by Richard Zuckerman on May 21, 2005 at 10:08:50 PT:
FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTS SILENCE
This proposed legislation should be considered to be in violation of the First Amendment right not to speak:“The constitutionally guaranteed right to free speech includes, of course, both the right to speak freely and the right to refrain from speaking at all.” U.S. Supreme Court Citation omitted), certification granted 87 N.J. 332, 434 A.2d 81, affirmed 86 N.J. 327, 431 A.2d 808 (198  ); C.N. Ex. Rel. J.N. v. Ridgewood Bd. Of Educ., 319 F.Supp.2d 483, 491 (D.N.J. 2004), headnote 2 (same).HAS ANYBODY READ THE ARTICLE IN THIS ISSUE OF CANNABIS CULTURE MAGAZINE, authored by Reverend Damuzi, about the Bush Family ties to the American Eugenics movement as being part of the plan to require every American to undergo psychiatric evaluation? There are five such Bills pending in the New Jersey State Assembly! They want to spend millions of dollars on forced-psychiatric evaluations, to continue spending on "Marijuana" arrests, yet the New Jersey State Assembly voted three days ago for a State Constitutional Convention to try to solve the property tax dilemma in New Jersey! Senate Health Committee Chairman Joseph Vitale refuses to post a vote on Senate Bill 2200, the Medical Marijuana Bill! I only vote for Ralph Nader, Libertarian Party, and Green Party political candidates, unless they are Ron Paul "Liberty Caucus" members!!Richard Paul Zuckerman, Box 159, Metuchen, New Jersey, 08840-0159, richardzuckerman2002 yahoo.com.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on May 21, 2005 at 09:55:44 PT
Siege 
Thank you. That makes sense to me.Toker00 I know what you mean.
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Comment #12 posted by siege on May 21, 2005 at 09:16:11 PT
kids and school's
We all remember the ones frontiersmen that made this country safe back in the1800's forward: the School's are teaching the Kids that they were all Renegades and Criminals. this is what is coming out of the 4,5,8th, grades.
And the D.A.R.E. program is just like the Jack Boot SS in Germany from what the grand kid are saying. snitch snitch snitch on their friends and parents for ANYTHING not just Drug's. they have ASK them where I work, how much money I make, what friends I have and what we do, ect, ect. So we have had a POLICE STATE for a while now.
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Comment #11 posted by Toker00 on May 21, 2005 at 05:22:52 PT
History
How will they teach children about the War on Drugs? Will they include the beatings and the jail rapes and the innocents who died because of a wrong address search warrant, or about the child who was blown away while spread eagle on the floor on his stomach or about the innocents blown away while thinking they are protecting their homes from criminals only to get gunned down in their own homes by the Jack Boot DEAth squads, or the young child and mother being "mistakenly" shot out of the air in Colombia, or the man dieing in prison because he was not allowed the miracle that allowed him to keep his medicine down so he wouldn't choke to death on it (but finally did)? Or the stories of many others who had their lives completely altered or destroyed for accepting one of God's gifts presented to us on the First Page of the Bible (Never forget RAINBOW FARM)?Or will we simply all be shown as criminals who were all finally gunned down as "terrorists" or snitched into prison by our own nieghbors and family, leaving the world "Drug Free"? How about the war on Terror? Will they be told about warnings monthS in advance that were totally ignored, or the training scenario in the seventies using the exact plan to fly planes into the WTC that became reality on 9/11/01? Or that we attacked a country on false and purposely misleading "intellegence" and continued this "War OF Terror on other nations falsely accused of being "terrorists"?Or will it simply be told as the beiginning of some wonderful plan called New World Order where we all become citizens of the World with no national bounderies and only one government of Korportists and us being proud Slaves but "Terror Free?"I didn't know Pearl Harbor was allowed to happen, I didn't know about the Secret Society that rules us, or about Peak Oil. I didn't know a lot of things about life until AFTER I graduated High School. And then I find the things I was taught there were LIES. And that is how they sent us out into their world. Preprogrammed to accept lies as truths. That is why they expect us to believe the lies they spew today ( And most Americans DO believe them). Thanks to a great degree to the enlightenment of Cannabis and a great degree to Seekers and Spreaders of the Truth about history and current events, I find myself prepared to do battle with the LIARs. Their weapons are Hate and Lies. My weapons are Love and Truth. Bring 'em on.Peace. Legalize, then Revolutionize!(medicine)(energy)(nutrition)  
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Comment #10 posted by mayan on May 21, 2005 at 04:58:21 PT
The Dutch
Scroll down to the comment as it offers much more insight...Dutch Seek to Tighten Marijuana Laws:
http://technocrat.net/article.pl?sid=05/05/21/0213248
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Comment #9 posted by billos on May 21, 2005 at 04:00:38 PT
.....D.A.R.E.......
The D.A.R.E. program, I believe, already teaches kids to snitch on their friends and parents for any perceived drug use.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on May 20, 2005 at 21:07:27 PT
PainWithNoInsurance
I didn't like History in school. I only liked Science and Religion. I find that learning now after all these years is fascinating and also eye opening. What I am getting out of the 500 Nations is that dignity and the right to be different and co-exist were not allowed. It was do as I say and we have the rights and your values just don't matter to us. It still is that way. 
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Comment #7 posted by PainWithNoInsurance on May 20, 2005 at 20:48:39 PT
Customized History?
FoM,
Maybe that's why so many people hate history in school. They really know the whole truth isn't being told so it's boring to them. Just a thought. ?????Maybe lying governments cause poverty, uneducated populations, and hatred. my 2 cents     ????????????????
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on May 20, 2005 at 20:05:38 PT
PainWithNoInsurance
These are strange days. The news has been slow so we are watching a program on the Discovery Times Channel called 500 Nations. It's hosted by Kevin Costner. It's the history of the war between us and the Indians. When I learned the history of America in school I only remember being told there were a few Indians in the New World and this country was ours to develop. I don't know if schools teach about the 60s movement other then we were just some Hippies. Will history record the truth ever I wonder sometimes.
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Comment #5 posted by PainWithNoInsurance on May 20, 2005 at 19:44:52 PT
These Are Strange Day In America
Something strange seems to be coming over some of these polititians. They seem to be getting insane, heartless, and prejudice. This is NOT American Politics. I thought the pending bill to outlaw gay books in all librarys, introduced by an Alabama senator was mentally ill, but this one adds to the coo--coo nest. Let's not forget the proposed Constitutional amendment to ban gay marrage, and the coo--coo ban on forbidding them to adopt children.
There are more coo--coo bills pending, but I don't even want to think about it.This country is so out of control.
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Comment #4 posted by mayan on May 20, 2005 at 18:22:43 PT
Victory Is Near!
The prohibitionists are getting increasingly desperate aren't they? According to Gahndi we are on the brink of victory!unrelated... Pot tourists targeted in Dutch coffee shop crackdown:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200505/s1373761.htmMan dies after eating marijuana: 
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050520/NEWS01/505200387Drugs law change impractical - Met chief (UK):
http://www2.netdoctor.co.uk/news/index.asp?id=119097&D=20&M=5&Y=2005THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...9/11 Truth champion, Michael Ruppert, speaks in Portland on JUNE 2nd:
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/05/317640.shtmlOpen Letter: Still Wondering Where NORAD Was On 9/11:
http://911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=547&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0Regulated Resistance: Is it possible to change the system when you are the system?
http://mathaba.net/x.htm?http://mathaba.net/0_index.shtml?x=218921Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance For 9/11 Truth:
http://mujca.com/MARTIAL LAW 9/11: RISE OF THE POLICE STATE:
http://www.martiallaw911.info/ 
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Comment #3 posted by global_warming on May 20, 2005 at 16:17:48 PT
re: Wisdom
 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant approached him and she said, "You were with Jesus the Galilean too." But he denied it in front of everyone: "I don't know what you're talking about!" When he had gone out to the gateway, another woman saw him and told those who were there, "This man was with Jesus the Nazarene!" And again he denied it with an oath, "I don't know the man!"
 After a little while those standing there approached and said to Peter, "You certainly are one of them, since even your accent gives you away." Then he started to curse and to swear with an oath, "I do not know the man!" Immediately a rooster crowed,..James Sensenbrenner would have gotten along well with Pontius Pilot and that whole bunch of lawyers and experts of that time, but he is here and now and I have to wonder how can such an ignorant and foolish human being be in a position of such power?
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on May 20, 2005 at 15:24:58 PT
Toker00
What bothers me is that what is good is considered bad and what is bad is considered good. I care about the children in America. I believe young people can't stand being lied to because young people aren't use to it. The older you get the more you say well what else is new. To be young and idealistic in this time in our country will drive young people to buck the establishment in my opinion. Do no harm leaders. Don't lie!
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Comment #1 posted by Toker00 on May 20, 2005 at 15:11:11 PT
Snitching works both ways.
This is so Nazi like . I wonder if this will just temporarily be limited to the "Drug War", and if it works, will it then be expanded to the "War on Terror"? Or does the Patriot Act II cover that already? We need to find this James Sensenbrenner and put some tails on him. Let him see what it is like to have people watch your every move and scrutinize every transaction, every travel expenditure that our taxes pay for. Sooner or later they make mistakes. Sooner or later we would get him for misuse of our taxes.  The Drug War was spawned to give rise to companies and agencies that profit from it. The same for the War on Terror. There is no compassion for the people, only rape of their tax system.  Rape by design. Healthy people are not profitable. Happy and content people are not profitable. Loving and peaceful people, no profit. Only through war can these demons prosper. Only through hate of truth and infliction of suffering can they find satisfaction. What dark force drives these people? I feel these people have never had a spiritual moment in their lives, or felt the rush of a beautiful sunrise, or had that feeling of COMPASSION for his fellow man, or just be stoned and/or happy to just BE. No, they have to wake up with hatred in their hearts for people they don't know anything about and hatred for a plant they have no relation with. And they ask us to TRUST their judgement?
Trust their Leadership? What Leadership? What do they base their expertise on? Cannabists are good people. It is a shame they will never know that. How do you love people who are incapable of loving you back?Peace. Legalize, then Revolutionize!(medicine)(energy)(nutrition)   
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