Cannabis Freedom

On July 29th the mayor of Berwyn Heights, Maryland, Cheye Calvo was victimized twice. Mayor Calvo was the victim of a marijuana trafficking scheme where packages are dropped by delivery drivers, in this case UPS, and the package is then stolen off the porch by drug dealers. The raiding police then murdered the mayor's two Labrador retrievers in the process of serving a standard drug warrant.

The police were supposed to knock at the door and announce themselves. Instead they entered the home by force acting as if the warrant had the required "no-knock" clause. The incompetent police have been exonerated of any wrongdoing. Mayor Calvo was recently interviewed by the Cato Institute. You can listen to the interview below.



For more information on no-knock raids and the rising use of military-style tactics in the war on drugs read Overkill by Radley Balko.

Redwood National Forest has become the latest battleground in the War on Drugs. The ancient forest is now the home to guerrilla growers who plant their clandestine farms in the dense old-growth in order to hide their crop from law enforcement and rival gangs.

Five-Acre Marijuana Farm Found in Redwood National Park - FoxNewsAuthorities have discovered thousands of marijuana plants growing in Redwood National Park.
...
While marijuana has been found growing on public lands for years, officials say they're finding larger, more damaging operations — many of them connected to gangs with ties to Mexico.

I've written before on the environmental destruction caused by the drug war. Not only does this deadly war threaten the environment, but also the lives of every tourist, camper, and hiker that visit the forest every summer. If marijuana crops were legal crops could be planted in private farms and the environmental and public threat would be eliminated.

The photo above is in the public domain: Coastal Redwood

Roane County (TN) School District is drug testing student athletes in violation of state law.

Alert - American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee: "The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee (ACLU-TN)
today sent a letter to the Roane County school district demanding a stop to the random drug testing of student athletes which is in clear violation of state law. In addition to being illegal, random drug testing of students is proven to be ineffective in deterring drug use and is opposed by leading experts in adolescent health, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Education Association, the Association of Addiction Professionals and the National Association of Social Workers.

“Random drug testing is not only patently illegal under state law, but demonstrably ineffective and frequently counterproductive,” said Hedy Weinberg, Executive Director of the ACLU of Tennessee. “These unsubstantiated searches make a mockery of the civics lessons taught in our classrooms, and should be roundly and readily rejected by parents and school officials alike.”"

Not only is this behavior illegal, random drug testing has been proven to be ineffective as a deterrent. It simply does not prevent students from using drugs. In fact, when children are tested for a safe and non-toxic substance like marijuana, students then have an incentive to instead use deadly drugs like inhalants. I believe the only effective and ethical way of preventing adolescent drug abuse, without violating individual rights is to foster a healthy relationship between the parent and child. School policy and the drug war instead foster mistrust, a snitch culture, and pit children against parents by creating adversarial relationships.

For more information read my post on fooling urine drug tests.

Read the full alert from the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee.
Associated Press article here: ACLU Demands Tennessee School Stop Drug Testing Student Athletes.

Ron White asserts that he is a medical marijuana user, this comes after his arrest for simple possession of 3 grams of cannabis and a glass pipe. An anonymous tipster narced out The Tater and police sprang into action. This is freaking ridiculous and completely conflicts with Drug Czar John Walters assertion that people don't go to jail for simple possession. Ron White had 3 grams of marijuana, that's about 1/10th of an ounce or less than $100 worth of high quality, medical marijuana. He was arrested, booked and release with a $1000 bond. I guess the streets are safe now. Great police work. How many personnel hours do you think that law enforcement is wasting on the investigation, processing, prosecution, and incarceration of a non-violent medical marijuana user? Ron was flying to Florida for a sold-out show. Over 1000 people were inconvenienced when the show started an hour late.

The Memphis Flyer is giving away free tickets to see Widespread Panic in Memphis. There are 5 drawings over the next five weeks. You have to turn off any ad blocking software you have running in order to see the link. Good luck.

The Cato Institute is having a forum on so-called "No-Knock" raids. Details below. Sorry, the stream is only available in RealMedia format, gross.

Cato Institute: Should No-Knock Police Raids be Rare-or Routine? (Policy Forum): "Should No-Knock Police Raids be Rare-or Routine?

POLICY FORUM
Thursday, September 11, 2008
4:00 PM (Reception To Follow)

Featuring Cheye Calvo, Mayor, Berwyn Heights, Maryland, Radley Balko, Senior Writer, Reason and author of Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America, Peter Christ, Co-founder, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Moderated by Tim Lynch, Director, Project on Criminal Justice, Cato Institute.

The Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

Watch the Event Live in RealVideo
Listen to the Event in RealAudio (Audio Only)

The Prince George’s County police department is under fire for a recent drug raid on the home of Berwyn Heights mayor Cheye Calvo. Unbeknownst to Calvo, a box containing marijuana was delivered to his home. Shortly thereafter, police officers kicked in the front door and shot both of Calvo’s pet Labrador retrievers. The police have subsequently cleared Calvo of any wrongdoing but are unapologetic about their raid tactics. Are no-knock, paramilitary raids an appropriate tactic for drug investigations? Or do sudden, unannounced entries bring unnecessary violence to police investigations? Join us for a discussion of the Prince George’s incident and, more broadly, the militarization of police work in America."

*Update: I fixed the links to the media streams.

This story from Chicago saddens me, but is not surprising. When the passive aggressive use the force of government to exact their revenge the results can be deadly. In this fortunate instance the tables were turned.

Chicago officer charged in frame job: "Bogdan Mazur, who is in the midst of a divorce, tried to set up his estranged wife by planting cocaine, marijuana and a gun in her vehicle in April 2007 and having Grand-Central District Officer Slawomir Plewa arrest her, according to Assistant State's Atty. Lynn McCarthy.

Plewa, 30, was arrested Monday and charged with official misconduct, perjury, obstruction of justice, unlawful restraint and false reporting."

People often use drug laws to exact retribution, vengeance, and hate against others. Sometimes drug users are snitched on, not to "make the streets safer" but because someone has simply felt personally slighted. Snitching is a great way for the passive aggressive to earn some quick cash while narcing out a personal enemy and subjecting them to the terror of the courts and prisons. The article continues:

After the acquittal, the woman's attorney, Steven Messner, said he told Assistant State's Atty. Bob Milan he suspected the case was phony. Plewa had admitted he never made note of the meeting with the informant nor tried to verify the information with anyone else, Messner said.

And a fingerprint taken from the packaging around the gun and drugs did not match the estranged wife's, Messner said.

Plewa is a seven-year veteran of the department, assigned to the gang-narcotics team for much of that time, and has never before been disciplined by the department, said Dan Herbert, Plewa's attorney.

In other instances innocent people are framed by their enemies. Vindictive individuals know that police are more interested in racking up arrest numbers in order to seize assets and qualify for federal grants. Law enforcement has no incentive to filter through these bogus accusations. Instead they frequently take the snitch's word without any corroborating investigation. In extreme circumstances police knowingly use false information because the incentives to disregard it are simply to great.

Law enforcement should be about justice, righting wrongs. They should be available to protect our life, our liberty, our property. The drug war conflicts with this mission. When cops are used to enforce societal norms we all suffer.

In a true WTF moment, Kid Rock is now making propaganda films for the government. Mrs. Blue, who's had a decade-long crush on the Early Morning Stoned Pimp [Video], will be highly disappointed.

View the music video for "Warrior", by Kid Rock featuring Dale Earnhart, Jr who drives the National Guard number 88 car.


Hat tip: JJ of FreeKeene.com

One of the most popular web searches related to marijuana is, "How to fool a drug test." While the answer remains elusive there are few tricks that can help you when your future or current employer hands you the little white cup.

Chemical & Engineering News: Business - To Catch A Cheat: "The hundreds of products marketed to help drug users circumvent urine drug tests fall into three main categories: products that are consumed prior to the test, products that are added to the test sample, and devices for smuggling synthetic or borrowed 'clean' urine into the testing facility. Toxicologists focus on the first two because, as Sample pointed out, 'if it's someone else's urine, there is not a lab test in the world that would tell you that.'"

So the answer from this unlikely source is simply, "swap urine." Of course using a warmer like "Hot Hands" available in the outdoors section of Walmart, is necessary to keep urine within a normal range of body temperature. Detox systems simply dilute urine to undetectable levels. This trick is easily recognized by competent laboratories.

There are several problems I have with employer drug screening. Marijuana users are unfairly discriminated against because THC is stored in body fat and is detectable long after hard, dangerous drugs have left the system. Prescription drugs are oft abused, even when acquired under legitimate pretense. However many "scripts" aren't tested and if the individual can produce documentation positive results are excused. Finally, drug tests can't actually determine if an employee is or will be impaired at work. THC remains in the body long after, sometimes weeks after the high has subsided.

Here's a table from the article above you might find useful.

Apparently dogs weren't able to be trained at Mark H. Luttrell Correctional Center because of a lack of air conditioning. Apparently in Tennessee we'll cage women in boxes not suitable for animals. I wish people would wake up and understand that the war on drugs is an affront to human rights.

Tennessee Women’s Prison to again Train Dogs: "A West Tennessee women's prison that was deemed this summer to be too hot for a dog training program is scheduled to get air conditioning."

Prosecutors and judges often have to deceive jurors in order to win medical marijuana prosecutions. By omitting relevant facts and disallowing testimony of witnesses, jurors are often tricked into believing individuals running legitimate businesses are running criminal enterprises. Now two jurors in California are fighting back.

The Modesto Bee - Second thoughts and a new pot trial?: "Buyer's remorse from two of 12 jurors is not enough to toss out guilty verdicts that could send two men who ran a Modesto-based medical marijuana dispensary to prison for decades or even life.

So attorneys who want to win a new trial for Ricardo Ruiz Montes and Luke Scarmazzo are taking a different approach, arguing that jurors were unduly influenced by a San Francisco Chronicle story about pot clubs that was published during their deliberations."

PRESS RELEASE:

Fayetteville, AR: Fayetteville voters will have the choice on Election Day to vote on making adult marijuana possession the lowest police priority. Sensible Fayetteville initiative sponsors turned in just over 1000 additional signatures on August 29 to meet a shortfall of 301 valid signatures. City Clerk Sondra Smith contacted campaign coordinator Ryan Denham today to say that the petition has qualified with over the required total of 3686 signatures that were required to qualify the petition.

Denham praised the city clerk and staff for their professional conduct and courtesy during the laborious verification process. "They worked hard. We were impressed by city operations."

"Now we turn our attention to providing more in-depth information to the voters leading up to Election Day. This initiative offers residents an important opportunity to help guide Fayetteville’s future through better allocation of our resources. It also shows that Fayetteville is willing to take a leadership role among other cities across the nation in addressing failed public policy. And we believe this will benefit Fayetteville’s largest industry, the University of Arkansas, by reducing the number of students penalized with loss of financial aid for marijuana prosecutions. We respect the dedication of our police and prosecutor and believe this measure spells out the public’s full support for their use of enforcement discretion."

Sensible Fayetteville formed in 2007 as a coalition of OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, & Ecology, the Green Party of Washington County, the University of Arkansas student group NORML-SSDP, and the Alliance for Reform of Drug Policy in Arkansas, Inc.

The measure, entitled "Lowest Law Enforcement and Prosecutorial Priority Policy Ordinance," would require Fayetteville police and prosecutor to treat adult marijuana possession offenses as their lowest priority. Further, the measure requires the city clerk to send an annual letter to state and federal legislators, governor, and president stating: "The citizens of Fayetteville have passed an initiative to de-prioritize adult marijuana offenses, where the marijuana is intended for personal use, and request that the federal and Arkansas state governments take immediate steps to enact similar laws." This duty shall be carried out until state and federal laws are changed accordingly.

The full text of the proposed ordinance can be viewed at www.sensiblefayetteville.com Similar laws have been passed by communities in Missouri, Montana, Washington, California, and Colorado. In Arkansas, a similar measure in Eureka Springs passed with 62% of the vote in 2006. Sponsors state that more than one survey by Zogby International have show that over two-thirds of Arkansas voters support reforms that would reduce penalties for adult marijuana use.

I was checking out Memphis photographer, Amie Vanderford's, online slideshow when my wife noticed the Ganja leaf belt buckle in this pic. On further examination we noticed that the photog Amie's reflection is in the ganja leaf. Pretty freaking cool.

Checkout more of Amie's photography on Flickr and her own site.

Allen St. Pierre, Executive Directory of NORML has a scathing rebuttal of the ONDCP's outrageous claims on their blog. The post is on The Hill's blog which is widely read by congressional staffers and lobbyists. Hopefully staffers at the ONDCP will stop getting invited to D.C. cocktail parties and change their tune.

Congress and the Media Should be Dubious of Office of Nat’l Drug Control Policy’s Claims: ...Cannabis cases however, notably minor possession cases, still clog the criminal justice system and are at the heart of dozens of state and federal appellate cases that have largely established less—not more—liberty and economic freedom for citizens. The gravitas of the state and federal conflict on the issue of cannabis prohibition so contentious the US Supreme Court has had to twice intervene since 2001 on the specific issue of medical access to cannabis for dying, sick and sense-threatened patients (in both cases, the court strongly deferred to Congress’ prerogative to pass anti-cannabis legislation, regardless of how illogical or devoid of compassion, reason and science).

Perhaps, having more credibility with law and order crowd, Seattle's former police chief, Norm Stamper can affect the debate with his brilliant arguments in the video below, courtesy of Reason.tv.

Possession of a plant can not only cost you your right to vote, it can also disqualify you from public service.

Commercial Appeal - Felony arrest ends Pearson's bid for Bartlett post - The Shelby County Election Commission ruled that Steve Pearson III, who filed to face Young in the Nov. 4 election, did not qualify for the race. While there were questions about Pearson's residency, a guilty plea to a felony charge of possession of 46 pounds of marijuana in 1989 was enough for the commission to disqualify Pearson, 57, from the election.

This is how they silence their political dissenters. I watched AKA Tommy Chong last night that anecdotes how they railroad non-violent pot offenders through the system, cage them, and strip them of their rights. Pot-prohibition violators are political prisoners. It's time to end this war on the American people and restore the rights of its casualties.

Due to a void I've found on the blogging scene, I'm looking for 6-10 pro-cannabis, pro-medical marijuana, pro-hemp, or anti-prohibition, however you define it, to write on this blog about once a week. If you'd like to contribute and individual piece, that's great too. If you normally write on issues other than marijuana and re-legalization on your own blog and would like to keep your pro-cannabis views separate and anonymous I can give you a forum here. If you're from Memphis, the Mid-South, or the Southeastern US, I especially want you, because there are regional issues that affect the debate here. You can email me at the address in the right-hand column or message me on my Twitter account.

I swear that any personal information you choose to divulge to me, none necessary I assure you, will never become public. The privacy of my partners will be protected by the First Amendment Freedom of the Press.

• Matt Welch at Reason asks, "Where are the Democrats on civil liberties?" Good question.
• Hicktown lawyer points out that McCain has never had to work a day in his life.
• MPD Enforcer says Memphis Police Department's disciplinary system is broken. It's certainly not effective.
• Cuban refugees take note, Junk raft made of plastic bottles sails the Pacific.
• An ABC News reporter in Denver has been arrested for videotaping Senators with lobbyist. So much for the First Amendment. I'd say a fundamental flaw of the Constitution is that it doesn't require Congress to punish those who violate it.
• Jacksonville SuperBitch Laura Capitano, calls Memphis "Nashville's dirty, drunken cousin" and slanders the Beale Street Flippers.
  

I read this news story: Morocco destroyed a 2,736 hectare cannabis farm. That's an area almost 20 times the size of Overton Park*. That's an unreal bust, and yet supply for the United States in the coming year won't be diminished. We're the country with the greatest marijuana consumption in the world.

I saw this story later: Police make large marijuana bust, police in Louisville take in 5 suspects for possessing between 200 and 500 pounds of marijuana. Why does the news media not take note of the outrageous claims of law enforcement? Repeatedly we are told about large busts of multiple hundreds of pound of cannabis, but that's not even a comet in the universe of buds smoked in this country. According to the White House's Marijuana SourceBook [PDF] I've conservatively approximated that 60,000 Memphians use cannabis. That crowd would fill the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

No one could fathom the acreage of bud you would have to produce to feed the demand of the residents of our city. We are constantly bombarded with claims that the drug warriors are winning, Blue Crush?, that they're "keeping drugs of the streets", when clearly they aren't. Instead we're crowding 201 Poplar full of the fathers of our dying babies. Watch the 20/20 preview if you haven't already. If marijuana were taxed and regulated, or simply free to grow and consume the money wouldn't be going to the thugs fueling the violence.

We're giving outrageous profits to the gangsters that rule our streets and cause one of the highest homicide rates in the country. Marijuana prohibition is causing and perpetuating our problems. You just can't keep drugs out the hands of a free people. Unless you want a totalitarian state, end the marijuana prohibition.

*2,736 hectares / 342 acres = 19.77

Hot 107.1 which in the past I have regarded to be the best hip-hop station in the Dirty South, has censored the political message of Young Jeezy's new single, Crazy World. The lyric in question is toward the end of the first verse and repeated again in the second.

They want that young shit, That dumb shit,
That where ya from shit,
That ride around ya' hood all day, wit ya gun shit,
All I got to my name, is 2 bricks and one felony,
You going back to jail,
That's what my conscience keep on telling me,
I really ain't buying all that bullshit they selling me,
When the government throwing more curves than the letter C,
I said the letter C, I guess that's for correctional,
They tryin' to box me in, sit me still like a vegetable,
Goddamn another trap, I think Bush is tryin punish us,
Send a little message out to each and everyone of us,
Real G shit, well that's really unheard of,
When you get more time for sellin' dope than murder.
In this crazy world.

Along with the FCC-banned language, censors have removed the word "dope" from the emphasized line, thereby removing the political message from the song. For some young black men, for taking only economic opportunity they will ever have, the government will lock them in a cage. It is senseless that a man would be locked away for possessing and selling a plant, marijuana, that has never harmed or killed anyone.

I understand that due to the family audience broadcasters want to remove lyrics that glamorize drug use, but this time they've gone overboard. The song in no way reflects the glamorous life of a drug dealer. In cries out about the injustice faced by young black men in America. Empirical evidence from multiple studies shows that the drug war unfairly targets blacks and Hispanics. Cannabis is used by a higher percentage of whites than any ethnic minority group.

Flynn Broadcasting is owned by perpetual Republican candidate, inventor, and doctor, Memphian George Flynn. His son Shea Flinn sits on the City Council. I call on the Flinn family to ensure that the political messages of rappers heard on Hot 107.1 not be silenced. Don't reduce their message to a minstrel show for your own profit.

Below is the full, unedited version while it's still up on Youtube. Probably not safe for work if you're watching this from the air-conditioned comfort of your cubicle. People that really work for a living are probably OK.

I respect what Alex Jones does, but I don't subscribe to conspiracy chasing much because it's time consuming and unproductive. I'd rather be a voice of reason and liberty. However, I will agree, because it's well documented, that organizations like Skull and Bones, Bohemian Grove, and the Bilderberg Group exist and operate to conspire to rule us. Their symbolism exists in government and court logos, emblems, seals, etc. This is the first time I've recognized Death's Head, (a.k.a skull and crossbones, ☠) imagery in Drug Enforcement Administration patches.

I first saw an image like this on the below from Ian of Free Talk Live and FreeKeene.com. Apparently the emblem isn't widely used or it would be prevalent across the net. It does trouble me because law enforcement supposedly exists to "serve and protect" and "keep us safe." I can't count how many times I've been told I should be grateful to law enforcement for the protection the provide to me and my family. If this is the case why do they exert force like the Marines?

The Marines are not peace keepers or law enforcement, they are the nation's "shock troops*." Vice versa, the police shouldn't be shock troops, raining down death and destruction to our cities. Local, state and federal administrators shouldn't allow their law enforcement divisions to use imagery of death to intimidate the public. I'm sure my plea will fall on deaf ears.



* I highly recommend you watch Generation Kill for a rather accurate depiction of how the Marines operate, then compare it with how you'd like domestic law enforcement to behave.