Making Money Off of Crime: It's Criminal!

"Shabby Justice"

First, read/watch: Conrad Black: Privatizing Prisons 'A Catastrophic Idea' (VIDEO, PHOTOS) on the Huffington Post.

I replied to "otherguy58" on HuffPo (click to enlarge)

“He can contribute because he *has* been all of those things. Who better to learn from than somebody who has actually served jail time? It would be stupid to not listen to him, I have before and wrote about it: http://nblo.gs/4lIby

If our goal is to "correct" people then we must continually strive to improve our correctional system. We don't call it "Punishment Service of Canada" because the priority is to rehabilitate people while they serve their sentence and before they reintegrate into society. The majority of jailed offenders are not kept in jail forever, don't you believe that we owe it to ourselves to stop recidivism?  I, as a Mother, want people who are released from prison to have been given the tools to never re-offend thus making the country I live in a much safer place for my children.  Don't you?

The worse thing we could EVER do is make our incarceration system private and for profit - this is a public service that our hard earned taxes go to because we like having professionals in Fire and Police Departments, ambulances, jails, hospitals and mental health facilities, public schools etc. These public servants are properly trained to help us live our safest and healthiest lives. The Correctional Service of Canada is a necessary public service with the priority of public safety and therefore should forever be exempt from making profit for privately owned businesses and corporations. Making Money Off of Crime: It's Criminal!”

*****

I know taxes suck but where I don't mind mine going is toward healthcare, public safety, (cops, fireman, court and jail workers, probation officers, mental health workers* etc) education (child and youth programming throughout all communities) public transit and infrastructure (roads, highways bridges) and social services for families and people in need as lower poverty rates translate into less crime.

All of the above aid me, you, and our families every day.  Public servants help to keep us healthy and safe and if something does happen to us they are there.  Their goal is a job well done, not boosting their funds.  All of us benefit when these different service agencies are given support and are at the top of their game.  As professionals in their respective fields they contribute to effective work, policies and positive outcomes. 

Private corporations could care less about the people they contain and spit out, after all, they love it when people come back for another stint.  Their main objective is to make money, every new and returning prisoner raises their stock on Wall St. and taxpayers end up footing the bill.  Canadians deserve to have our safety be a top priority and leaving this task to private companies is just asking for tragedy and economic failure. The Americans have been down this treacherous road, let's be smart and not follow.

*****

Excerpt from: Private prison companies look to Canada as industry faces lawsuits in US

US states are beginning to rely less on privately run prisons, but Canada may be a land of opportunity for the two biggest firms

"US private prison firms are targeting Canada for fresh opportunities as pressure builds at home on the troubled multi-billion dollar industry from human rights groups and legal actions, and as more states look to scale back their reliance on them.

Two of the biggest operators in an industry once regarded as recession-proof, Geo Group and Management and Training Corporation (MTC), have been lobbying various government departments in the Canadian capital, Ottawa.

With a massive prison overhaul plan already underway – as well as the passage in March of Bill C-10, a suite of crime legislation that most observers agree will see more Canadians face prison time and keep those already locked up behind bars for longer – it seems the American industry's interest in its neighbour to the north could not come at a better time.

The private industry's lobbying of Canadian lawmakers has some Canadian prison watchers worried. "There is something unethical with having corporations seeking profits from locking people up," wrote a group of former high-ranking Canadian justice officials to the Kingston Whig-Standard newspaper in March."  ~ Read the whole article here.

From "The Union: The Business Behind Getting High"

90% Full Prisons Guaranteed!

Private Prisons-Commerce in Souls

For-Profit Prisons Promise Investors Growth

Making Investors Rich!

More links:

Lobbyists Behind Omnibus Crime Bill Aimed at Privatizing Prisons ~ 404 System Error Democracy Not Found

Right and proper  With a record of being tough on crime, the political right can afford to start being clever about it

 In Prison Reform, Money Trumps Civil Rights By MICHELLE ALEXANDER

*There is a higher rate of mental illness in the poor than in the rich (source Brill 40)
~ Death in Remand: Stacked Deck
"Forty-nine per cent of all prisoners admitted to a B.C. jail between 1997 and 2004 had a diagnosed mental illness. Fully half of those were also addicted to alcohol or drugs. In total, 56 per cent of provincial prisoners in B.C. during that time, both on remand and sentenced, were either mentally ill, addicted to something, or both. There's obviously a spectrum there. "Mental illness" covers a broad swath. But even still, it's hard to overlook the connection.
Remand rates are going up at least in part because of the judicial response to breaches of bail and probation condition. At the same time, the justice system is dealing more and more often with the sort of people most likely to breach.
It has to be asked: Are we setting them up to fail?"
~ Tory crime bill will make matters worse for mentally ill: expert

I'm Gonna Party With Zach Braff

Kudos to actor @ZachBraff who "Tweeted" his support for an end to the legal prohibitions criminalizing marijuana and gay marriage. I find that there's a connection to be made about people against both of these Human Rights.


(Click screenshot to enlarge.)

The Global Marijuana March - Tomorrow!!!

I had such a great time at last years Freedom Festival and Global Marijuana March. I hope everyone who has the chance can attend this awesome celebration - the Global/Worldwide Marijuana March is in over 300 cities this year! (Dates may vary, please confirm here for your area)

For all the info on Toronto's event, please visit torontofreedomfestival.com and globalmarijuanamarch.ca.

Pass It to The Left!

Video I made with pictures I took at the 2009 Global Marijuana March & Freedom Festival.

Vote For Hemp, My American Friends

National Farmers Union Adopts New Policy on Industrial Hemp
Majority of Leading Farming Organizations Now Support Hemp Farming in the U.S.

"Grown commercially in Canada since 1998, hemp has become one of the most profitable crops for farmers north of the U.S. border. While American farmers often net less than $50 per acre for soy and corn, Canadian hemp farmers just across the border net an average of $250 per acre." Hat Tip to Hemp & Company for the link. You can also Fan them on Facebook.

May 17-23, 2010 is Hemp History Week!

A joint project of Vote Hemp and the Hemp Industries Association, Hemp History Week is looking for patriotic Americans to anchor and organize events in their hometown as part of a national grassroots, media and public education campaign.

More posts about Hemp on my blog here and I've also come across this wonderful site that you just can't pass up: Hemp: What The World Needs Now .

Update: Read about the awesome discovery: 100-Year-Old Government Hemp Farm Diaries To Be Revealed
... "So in addition to the already-known intertwining of the noble hemp plant and U.S. history, now it is revealed that the very location of the Pentagon itself was once covered with verdant fields of cannabis."

I Got A Little Snarky...

Reading such ignorance I had no choice but to tell how I really feel.

Read the Letter: No such thing as 'medical marijuana'

I'm not sure the comment moderator will post my reply or not, so here it is:

I suppose all the scientists and doctors are wrong then Joe? http://maryjanecannabian.blogspot.com/2009/10/international-researchers-reveal.html

Next you'll be saying all this medical marijuana is going to cause black men to step on the shadows of white men - oh wait, that's how Anslinger got cannabis prohibited back in 1937.

Cannabis has been used by humans for medicine since before we even started to record our history, it's only been in the last hundred years that POLITICIANS have outlawed it, not doctors.

Cannabis saved my life - it's not about getting high, it's about trying to live our lives in less pain with fewer side effects - I personally don't want to take meds where the side effect is DEATH.

Cannabis isn't for everybody, but there is no way that it should be outlawed from people who it will help. If you don't believe in it, don't use it. Alcohol is legal but I probably have a drink once a year. Freedom of choice cannot be denied when people's lives are at stake.

Government prohibiting people from ingesting a substance means they own your body. Ownership is slavery. Just the very fact that people are thrown in jail for using it proves that. Prohibition laws are draconian and that is why more and more people are fighting to change these laws, in spite of people like you.

I'd rather go to jail for using cannabis than to merely exist bedridden in pain. I usually pride myself on being a very polite Lady, but from the bottom of my heart, screw you, Joe.

"An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law" ~ Martin Luther King

Addendum
This is relevant to my post: Breaking News

AMA Calls for Review of Medical Marijuana's Legal Status

New Policy Marks Historic Shift From Prior Stance

(HOUSTON, TEXAS) - In a move considered historic by supporters of medical marijuana, the American Medical Association’s House of Delegates today adopted a new policy position calling for the review of marijuana’s status as a Schedule I drug in the federal Controlled Substances Act. (Read the whole article on Salem News)

Cops & Clergy Condemn the War on Drugs

Police FAIL

The following is by my friend Steve Elliot. Check out his blog Reality Catcher and his other brilliant articles on the San Francisco Weekly. You can also follow Steve on Twitter: @alapoet

Chronic City: Revealed -- California Cops Are Trained 'Marijuana Is Not A Medicine'

By Steve Elliott in Chronic City, Government, Health, Law & Order

Thursday, Jul. 30 2009 @ 12:30PM

Artwork courtesy Jim Wheeler

Can't we all just get along?

​A recent court case in San Diego has revealed some California police officers are basing their sworn court testimony in medical marijuana cases on badly outdated, legally inaccurate information.

This goes a long way towards explaining why it is that so many law enforcement officers in the state still seem to harbor such personal animosity toward medical marijuana and those who use it, even after it's been legal in the state for 13 years. Above and beyond the seemingly eternal cop/pot dichotomy, the cops' own "medical marijuana training materials" tell them that -- contrary to the law -- there's no such thing as medical marijuana, and that all marijuana is illegal!

This misinformation has real-life consequences. Californians who legally use and provide medical marijuana are faced with hostile police and judges who have only heard or choose to believe information which is plainly wrong regarding medicinal pot's legal status here, and inaccurate regarding its effectiveness as medicine, as supported by thousands of doctors and hundreds of studies.

Courtesy eugenedavidovich.com

Eugene Davidovich: Victim of the pot culture wars?

​Eugene Davidovich, a San Diego medical marijuana provider who was arrested last February as part of Operation Green Rx (aka Operation Endless Summer), told me that the chief investigative officer in his case testified on the stand that he bases his expert testimony, as far as "medical marijuana training," on a handout from something called the Narcotic Educational Foundation of America, "Drug Abuse Education Provider of the California Narcotic Officers' Association."

In this toxic little screed, with the title Use of Marijuana As A "Medicine" (the quotes are theirs), we learn right off the bat -- in the first sentence! -- that "Marijuana, a plant from the cannabis family, is illegal and highly psychoactive." No mention of the fact that medical use of marijuana is legal, mind you -- and this in materials used to educate law enforcement officers.

I'll bet you thought that the issue of medical marijuana was settled when Proposition 215 was voted in back in 1996. Not so fast! You're just a civilian. The cops know better; and guess what? It sure looks as if the cops get to pick which laws they like, and which ones they want to ignore. "MARIJUANA IS NOT A MEDICINE," the "educational" pamphlet screams at its gun-toting, badge-wearing readers.

Screen capture: Reality Catcher

Misinformation has consequences: Inaccurate handout used in officers' court testimony

​
More than a decade after California voters spoke loudly and clearly on the topic, these folks just aren't giving up the pot culture wars. You'd think the "medical marijuana training" of law enforcement officers might include the rather pertinent fact of its legality might merit at least a mention. Reading the sordid little hate-filled pamphlet, you keep expecting to eventually encounter some level-headed caveat for these eager officers, some kind of sensitivity training, some sort of warning that since marijuana is, in fact, legal in this state for medical use, that officers must be careful to protect the rights of patients. But it never comes.

"Many well-intentioned leaders and members of the public have been misled by the well-financed and organized pro-drug legalization lobby, into believing there is merit to their argument that smoking marijuana is a safe and effective medicine," the pamphlet informs officers. "There is no justification for using marijuana as a medicine."

Once the officers have been, er, "trained" as to the illegitimacy of medical marijuana, they are dutifully informed that it is just ever so immoral and icky as well. "We have seen first hand the debilitating and often tragic results, both psychologically and physically, of those who choose intoxication as a part of their lifestyle," the pamphlet laments in one particularly purple passage.

The pamphlet then attempts to cloak its (legally incorrect for California) estimation of marijuana's uselessness as medicine and its enormous moral judgments around the weed in some sort of scientific respectability by citing outdated studies, all of which have been since refuted by more modern findings.

"It is actually scary what goes on in court," Davidovich told me. "I really hope that somehow a stop can be put to this. This is one of the reasons I am so public about these hateful people. There are a lot of patients who are needlessly suffering here in San Diego." ~Steve Elliot, SF Weekly

To read more about the fight to use Medical Marijuana, including the latest news regarding last weeks statement by the drug czar and the subsequent letter writing campaign that followed, please visit The Marijuana Policy Project.

Ethan Nadelmann Delivers the Truth: Human Rights, Racial Justice and the War on Drugs

Ethan Nadelmann Speaks at the NAACP Conference: Human Rights, Racial Justice and the Drug War

Ethan Nadelmanns' speech for the NAACP Conference is honestly one of the best speeches regarding The War on People and prohibition I have ever heard. I'm sharing this video with everyone I know.

I was fortunate to hear Marc Emery speak last night, and we would be wise to listen to people like Ethan and Marc. We all have to speak up and make our voices heard - in Washington, in Ottawa, everywhere. Americans and Canadians should be rising up together to get our drug laws changed, it will benefit all of North America.

Mr. Nadelmann is right, we have never been a drug free society and we never will be. Humans aren't perfect so it's quite astonishing that our politicians demand just that of us - perfection. Yes, while drugs are sometimes abused, the Drug War has been a complete tragedy and causes more harm to peoples lives than the actual substances themselves.

By luck President Obama never got busted. How different our world would be if he had been caught using cannabis or cocaine. How he can sit in the Oval Office while people sit in jail cells for doing the exact same thing he chose to do is beyond me. I honestly believed he would be a leader of drug reform once elected. Sadly, he seems to be content to ignore this Human Rights atrocity taking place in his very own country, perpetrated against the people of the very nation he leads.

In Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is an ideological aggressor, trying to change Canadian drug laws to reflect those that have led to the mass incarceration of over 20 million Americans. We know the damage the drug war has done to the States, why our Canadian politicians would push down the same failed path is nothing short of insanity.

Stand up everyone, if we're going to change things, we all have to do our part. Share videos like these and it doesn't cost you but the price of a stamp to write a letter and mail it to your congress rep or member of parliament. It's a start. Assure them that they will not lose your vote if they work for the people to strike down prohibition.

We the people vote politicians in to office, and it is their duty to represent what the people want - and we all know, it is undeniable, that our current system, this war, just isn't working - and we want change.

Yes We Cannabis.

This is Your Country on Drugs

Interview with Ryan Grim, senior congressional correspondent for the Huffington Post and author of the new book, "This is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America".

Why Did Liberal MPs Support Bill C-15?

From the 2009 Liberal Convention, in Vancouver, British Columbia,

Justice and Constitutional Resolutions:

53. Legalize and Regulate Marijuana

WHEREAS, despite almost a century of prohibition, millions of Canadians today regularly consume marijuana and other cannabis products;

AND WHEREAS the failed prohibition of marijuana has exhausted countless billions of dollars spent on ineffective or incomplete enforcement and has resulted in unnecessarily dangerous and expensive congestion in our judicial system;

AND WHEREAS various marijuana decriminalization or legalization policy prescriptions have been recommended by the 1969-72 Commission of Enquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs, the 2002 Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs, and the 2002 House of Commons Special Committee on the Non-Medical Use of Drugs;

AND WHEREAS the legal status quo for the criminal regulation of marijuana continues to endanger Canadians by generating significant resources for gang-related violent criminal activity and weapons smuggling - a reality which could be very easily confronted by the regulation and legitimization of Canada's marijuana industry;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that a new Liberal government will legalize marijuana and
ensure the regulation and taxation of its production, distribution, and use, while enacting strict penalties for illegal trafficking, illegal importation and exportation, and impaired driving.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a new Liberal government will invest significant resources in prevention and education programs designed to promote awareness of the health risks and consequences of marijuana use and dependency, especially amongst youth.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a new Liberal government will extend amnesty to all
Canadians previously convicted of simple and minimal marijuana possession, and ensure the elimination of all criminal records related thereto.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a new Liberal government will work with the provinces and local governments of Canada on a coordinated regulatory approach to marijuana which maintains significant federal responsibility for marijuana control while respecting provincial health jurisdiction and particular regional concerns and practices.
~Liberal Party of Canada (British Columbia) - April 30 - May 3, 2009.

Flip-Flop

Before the vote on Bill C-15: A number of prominent Liberals challenged their party's puzzling support for Bill C-15. Dozens of bloggers, riding association presidents and other party members publicly complained about Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff pressuring the party to back the new law.

Yet, when it came to the April 8th. parliamentary vote, every Liberal present voted for the bill, except for Liberal MP Keith Martin who supports decriminalization. Martin abstained from the vote. The NDP and Bloc all voted against it.

"In the context of some occasions where the sentences have not been appropriate, we're in support of C-15," said Ignatieff. "We support stronger measures."

What?

To recap, at their biannual convention the Liberals promise to legalize Cannabis if elected, but when push comes to shove they hop on the PC Drug War bandwagon and support a bill that will bring harsher penalties regarding Cannabis. They endorsed this policy without any estimate of how much it will cost Canadian taxpayers. And they want us to trust them? They want us to vote for them? Until the Liberals come clean with their true intentions regarding cannabis prohibition what are are we Canadians to believe?


Our Hope - The Senate

The week of June 25th. senators voted to delay their decision regarding Bill C-15 by a 38-33 vote. Justice Minister Rob Nicholson ranted, accusing Liberal senators of blocking the Conservatives agenda. The following is an excerpt from a June 22nd. feature article from Cannabis Culture magazine:

Conservative Justice Minister Rob Nicholson lashed out at the Senate today, accusing them of blocking the Conservatives so called “law and order' agenda.

Nicholson specifically targeted the Senate for failing to act fast enough on C-15, the Conservatives' bill that includes mandatory minimum prison terms for drug offenses and has been almost universally criticized by criminal justice experts. The bill, which took more than 14 weeks to pass the House of Commons, has been in the Senate for less than two weeks and has already passed First Reading.

Despite the passing of the bill by Liberals in the house, Senate Liberals seem to be standing up to the Conservative bullying.

“They want to appear to be tough on crime,” Senate Opposition Leader James Cowan said. “If they were really serious about this, they would have introduced these bills at the beginning of the session and processed them through the House and gotten them to us before the end of the session.”

Cowan said other bills have taken several months to pass the House, but Nicholson is demanding they pass the Senate in only two or three days.

“We’re not going to be pushed into doing that,” Cowan said, suggesting the Conservatives are trying to distract attention away from the economy and the isotope shortage.

Critics of the bill say evidence overwhelming shows mandatory minimums simply don't work, can be extremely expensive to enforce, and cause more harm than good.

“Rob Nicholson has ignored the preponderance of scientific evidence and international experience, and now he is ignoring the Constitution”, said Kirk Tousaw, Executive Director of the Beyond Prohibition Foundation. “C-15 has profound implications for our criminal justice system and provincial budgets, the Senate has a constitutional obligation to study the implications of this bill, especially considering that the Conservatives did not.”

“For Rob Nicholson to attempt to push through a bill he could not produce a single piece of evidence to support is absurd”, (Marc) Emery said, “The Conservative Party may take it's cues from the Republicans, but thankfully, the Senate does not”. ~ Read the whole article here.

***

Of the 16 experts called to testify on C-15, 13 called for the outright dismissal of the bill. When prompted, the Conservatives declined to provide evidence for the bill, and instead accused the opposition of being soft on crime.

***

While the final answers about Bill C-15 are cautiously awaited and won't be known until at least September 15th when parliament resumes, we pin our hopes on the belief that Liberal Senators will be the wise voice of reason and reject it. Anything less is an assault on the freedom of every single Canadian.

The War on Drugs has failed - it's time for Canada to step up and develop drug policy in an intelligent, common sense manner. Drugs are a health issue, not a criminal one. If we don't change our draconian prohibition laws the consequences will be tragic.

If the the Liberal Party had fortitude, they would champion cannabis legalization and bring honour back to law enforcement. We had more faith in the justice system when police pledged and respected their motto: "To Protect and Serve", Canadians would rather not live in our current prohibition induced "Us vs. Them" state. Canadians long for Members of Parliament who represent our best interests and stand up for freedom and personal autonomy.

While the Conservatives seem intent on chipping away at our rights, Liberal flip-flopping leaves constituents feeling even more disillusioned and disappointed in our politicians. 'Tis such a sad state of affairs.... no wonder Canadians aren't voting. It's really too bad we don't have a James Gray. Canadians sure could use a politician like him.

For more information on Bill C-15, please visit WhyProhibition.ca

Prohibition = EPIC FAIL

Prohibition is an awful flop.
We like it.
It can't stop what it's meant to stop.
We like it.
It's left a trail of graft and slime,
It don't prohibit worth a dime.
It's filled our land with vice and crime,
Nevertheless, we're for it.

~ Newspaperman Franklin P. Adams, 1931,
in the New York World

The following is an e-mail I sent to Canadian Senators regarding Prohibition and Bill C-15.

Dear Senators,

I know you are off on Summer Break, but I just came across this and it is honestly the most well written article regarding Prohibition that I have ever read and I wanted to share it with you.

While the following is an open letter written for US politicians, I believe it echoes the position of many Canadians as well.

If Bill C-15 passes we will surely travel down the same doomed road our neighbours to the south have. I love Canada, I am proud to be Canadian, but I am appalled at the measures that Canadian politicians have placed upon the Canadian People under the guise of "being tough on crime" and "protecting us from ourselves".

Canada is a beautiful, strong country. I believe we should be World Leaders and adopt Common Sense Drug Policy - wherein we recognize that drugs are indeed a part of Humanity, they have been for thousands of years, and Canadians would be safer living in a land that controls and regulates the sale of drugs to adults. Leaving drugs to be sold by gangs and cartels will endanger Canadians further when prohibition related crime and violence escalates - and it will escalate - one need only look to the bloodshed happening every day in Mexico and Columbia.

As a Mom I implore you to help make Canada safer for my kids. I just can't bare the thought of my boys growing up in our fair land under a regime of political tyranny, afraid of the government and fearful of police, and even more afraid of being caught in the crossfire of a gangland turf war, becoming victims of prohibition created violence.

Canadians deserve better of our government, and as a Senator you have the power to represent all Canadians and our desire to peacefully live in one of the greatest countries in the world. As long as we live under the laws of Prohibition, we can never claim to live free. Please stand up for us. Stand for justice. Stand up for Canada, stand up for Freedom.

Sincerely,

Mrs........


Submitted by BuzzFlash on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 8:14am.

* Guest Contribution

BUZZFLASH GUEST COMMENTARY
By Carmen Yarrusso

Dear honorable representatives of the American people:

The so-called "drug war" is a blatantly dishonest, extremely expensive, highly destructive, grossly unjust, abject failure of our government.

Despite 30 years and more than a trillion (a million times a million!!!) dollars of taxpayer money spent trying to stop -- not robbery, not rape, not murder, not even shoplifting -- but trying to stop adults from using certain arbitrarily banned drugs, despite draconian punishments, despite currently jailing 500,000 non-violent American citizens, despite tens of thousands of prohibition related murders, these drugs are cheaper, purer, and more readily available than ever.

Why do you allow this insanity to continue?

How many more taxpayer billions must we waste, how many more thousands of productive Americans must we lock up, how many more thousands of human beings must die in drug war violence before you honorable representatives of the American people put an end to this foolish, futile carnage?

When will you find the courage to openly admit that drug prohibition (just like alcohol prohibition) is guaranteed to be counterproductive, guaranteed to be extremely violent, guaranteed to be perpetually futile, and guaranteed to leave a wide swath of human suffering and death in its wake?

When will you find the courage to tell the truth about drug prohibition?

Prohibition Truth Number One

The "drug war" is not a war against drugs -- quite the contrary -- it's a war for drugs. It strongly encourages both production and distribution of prohibited drugs by guaranteeing extremely high profits for everyone involved. Does it make any sense to believe a government policy that guarantees massive profits for any activity could possibly result in less of that activity?

Let's be very clear: the "drug" war is a war against living, breathing human beings, not drugs. Drugs are merely the dishonest excuse for an extremely profitable, ruthless enterprise, the victims of which are real people.

The violence in Mexico, where more than 6,000 have been murdered in just one year, where bodies are often mutilated and beheaded, is NOT the result of America's demand for prohibited drugs (as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has implied). Not at all. That demand, such as our demand for alcohol and nicotine, could easily be satisfied without any violence.

The thousands of murders in Mexico (and thousands more in this country) each year are the direct result of drug prohibition itself. When alcohol was prohibited, the murder rate in America skyrocketed, when Prohibition ended, the murder rate rapidly declined. When's the last time you heard of a murder during an alcohol deal gone bad?

How can you honorable representatives of the American people justify arresting and jailing hundreds of thousands, the killing of thousands more each year, and the squandering of billions in taxpayer money (most of it) on a guaranteed-futile attempt to stop adults from using marijuana?

When will you find the courage to tell the truth about drug prohibition?

Prohibition Truth Number Two

This patently wasteful and highly destructive war against human beings continues unabated because the various special interests that profit greatly from prohibition have sufficient control over you, the honorable representatives of the American people.

These special interests are well aware they would lose billions in profits if you were to find the courage to end prohibition, again.

If prohibition were to end again, the illegal drug industry (cartels, dealers) would lose billions. Industries spawned by prohibition (drug testing, incarceration) would also lose big money. But the most significant special interest group that would lose billions if prohibition ended again, the special interest group with by far the most political power, is our own government.

Prohibition has become an extremely lucrative, institutionalized part of our government. At least 50 government agencies profit greatly from this war against real human beings. Millions more taxpayer dollars are spent on patently deceitful propaganda to keep fooling Americans about prohibition and to keep taxpayer billions flowing to these agencies.

These government agencies are quite literally addicted to drug money. They're hooked on the taxpayer billions they waste each year as they pretend to fight an enemy created and sustained by prohibition itself.

When will you find the courage to tell the truth about drug prohibition?

Arguments against prohibition

Any one of the following arguments should be sufficient to convince reasonable people that prohibition is an egregiously immoral policy.

Argument 1) Prohibition is blatant government fraud -- guaranteed to fail

Prohibition pretends to fight drugs. In fact, it guarantees massive profits to anyone in the world who can produce and deliver prohibited drugs to our streets. It pretends to regulate drugs. In fact it completely abandons regulation. It pretends jailing drug dealers is "fighting drugs." In fact this just creates lucrative job openings for more efficient, more ruthless, eager replacements.

It pretends intercepting large quantities of illegal drugs is "winning the war." In fact only a small percentage of drugs are intercepted and those seized are easily and cheaply replaced. Prohibition pretends to be protecting us from "dangerous drugs" (such as marijuana) while legal nicotine and alcohol kill 500,000 Americans each year.

Prohibition is a massive government fraud. It creates, sustains, and handsomely rewards the illegal drug industry while pretending to fight that very same industry. Like the classic mafia "protection racket," our government creates a perpetual problem and then charges us big money to "protect" us from it.

Argument 2) Prohibition violates our most basic human right

Prohibition denies us the right of sovereignty over our own bodies and gives this power to our government. Does any other human right make sense if we don't have sovereignty over our own bodies? There's a word for people who don't have sovereignty over their own bodies: slaves.

Prohibition declares our master (the government) has ultimate control over what we individuals can and cannot put into our own bodies. Should we disobey our master, and trust our own minds, we can be punished -- often very severely.

If we find using marijuana as medicine eases our suffering, we must get down on our knees and beg our owners at the state level to get permission to put this medicine into our government-owned bodies. But even if we get permission, our slave master, the federal government, can still put us in chains.

Prohibition is overt government tyranny.

Argument 3) There's no moral justification to criminalize any drug use

The most insidious and evil aspect of the "drug war" is it manufactures its own enemies by simply criminalizing our most basic human right -- the right of sovereignty over our own bodies.

Prohibition could not exist without our government inventing a bogus crime.

The use of drugs (even dangerous drugs such as alcohol and nicotine) simply doesn't meet any reasonable moral definition of "crime." Real crime requires action that harms another. Real crime requires both a victim and a perpetrator.

Even if the act of ingesting certain drugs were somehow a crime, we can't commit a crime against ourselves. Just as it's not criminal to stab ourselves, or to rob ourselves, we can't be criminals for merely putting something into our own bodies. Only a corrupt, depraved government could invent a crime we commit against ourselves.

Living, breathing human beings are being taken from their loved ones and locked up for a "crime" created out of thin air by our government.

Prohibition is overt government tyranny.

Argument 4) Users of illegal drugs are not debased human beings

Human beings in all cultures throughout history have regularly altered their minds with a wide variety of drugs. Drug use is hardly an isolated anomaly -- it may even be part of human nature. Billions around the world derive positive benefits from mind-altering drugs (especially from alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and marijuana).

Many respected, productive people, including many of you honorable members of Congress, are (or were) regular users of illegal drugs. Many of you are regular "users" of alcohol or nicotine. Demonizing and criminalizing some drugs, while approving others, without rational criteria, is patently arbitrary and deceitful.

Just as the vast majority of alcohol users consider their drug of choice a positive part of their lives, the vast majority of illegal drug users consider their drug of choice a positive part of their lives. No matter what their drug of choice, we should show compassion and help those with problems. They need treatment, not prison. We don't put alcoholics in jail.

Why are "drug dealers" condemned for "pushing poison" or "ruining lives," but alcohol and nicotine dealers aren't?

Propaganda generated by our government (and other special interests that profit greatly from prohibition) necessarily demonizes those who use prohibited drugs. It's fine to have a few beers at the ball game, or smoke cigarettes to get a mental boost, but if you relax with a joint, you're a low-life "drug user" or "druggie." It's then a small propaganda step from "druggie" to "criminal."

Yet more prohibition insanity

The "drug war" also causes considerable collateral damage. Promising research on medical uses for marijuana and LSD has been forbidden or forfeited to other countries. An entire industry, hemp production, was eliminated.

Medical marijuana research

To protect their drug money, special interests within our government have dishonestly thwarted legitimate medical marijuana research for decades.

Marijuana has been used as medicine in many cultures throughout history. It's been shown to be effective treating a variety of ailments. Recent studies have identified cannabinoid receptors in many parts of the human body, including areas outside the brain that control vital bodily functions. This suggests there may be multiple medical uses for marijuana yet undiscovered.

But pretending to stop adults from using marijuana is much more profitable to our government than medical marijuana research.

Hemp

Prohibition also bans hemp, once a mainstay of the American agricultural economy. Hemp, "nature's perfect plant," could bring a bonanza to American farmers, greatly reduce America's dependence on fossil fuels, and thus help mitigate global warming and climate change.

This environmentally friendly plant grows without herbicides, nourishes the soil, matures quickly, and provides high yields. Hemp is the number one biomass producer in the world -- 10 tons per acre in four months! It could be an excellent fuel-producing crop.

Hemp can be made into paper, paneling, injection-molded plastics, clothing, and thousands of other useful products. The highly nutritious seeds can be used to make flour, cooking oil, and even cattle feed.

But pretending to stop adults from using marijuana is much more profitable to our government than easing global warming.

Conclusion

Supporting a government policy guaranteed to both fail and cause vast human suffering is egregiously immoral.

Prohibition is a deep, self-inflicted wound on humanity. Arbitrarily punishing users of certain politically incorrect drugs is just plain cruel. Severely punishing those who produce and deliver illegal drugs is like dangling meat in front of starving dogs and then beating them unmercifully when they disobey your command and lunge for the meat.

Prohibition guarantees lucrative jobs for desperate people all along the chain of production and distribution. Most are motivated by survival not greed. Rampant corruption of foreign governments (e.g., Mexico, Colombia, Afghanistan) is driven by massive drug profits -- human life and human rights are secondary.

Yes, if prohibition ended again, many businesses would fail. Many government agencies would lose billions. Tens of thousands of decent Americans would lose their government jobs. But that's no reason to continue this insane war against our fellow human beings for even one more day.

Even if one accepted all the positive claims of prohibitionists, the benefits don't come close to outweighing the massive costs in cash and human suffering. For what? Most of the drug war billions are spent trying to stop adults from using marijuana.

The best interests of the American people would be better served by treating drug users who need help instead of spending billions arresting and jailing them. Treatment could be totally financed by taxing and regulating these drugs.

We, the undersigned, demand that you uphold your moral duty to represent the best interests of the American people. We hereby demand you honorable ladies and gentlemen use the power we have entrusted in you to peacefully end the blatantly dishonest, extremely expensive, highly destructive, futile-by-design, government tyranny know as the "drug war."

Humanity has suffered long enough.

http://blog.buzzflash.com/contributors/2009

Thank You, Carmen, for writing this wonderful, powerful, letter. I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart! ~MaryJane

Canadian Senator Larry Campbell

Tree of Life

Tree Of Life
Words and Music by Human

I wanna tell y’all a little bit about a plant I know that can save the world.
It grows long and tall and has flowers that can make your mind swirl.
It’s a sacred plant with a fiber that is resistant to rain and mold.
It’s the strongest plant fiber known to man, the best rope you’ll ever hold.

Now the pioneers covered up their wagon train with a canvas made of hemp
Washington and Jefferson grew it on their farms and said to make the most of it.
The first stars and stripes were made on hemp the first constitution too.
Its used around the world for fuel fiber oil medicine and food.

If you press its seeds you wont have no need for any other oil,
You can make paints and inks or run your car, grow it back next season it’ll fix the soil.
The most nutritious seed you can put in your mouth with Omega 6 and 3
We can feed the world with the tree of life and live sustainably.

Chorus:
If we cut down all the trees, then we won’t have no air to breath,
Grow a field of hemp instead, you can make your paper, build your house from it. The Goddess plant growing wild and free, livin’ the way we oughta be, gone leave my children a better world than my ancestors left me.

The flowers of the female hemp plant make the best medicines on Earth,
Helps cancer and AIDS patients eat their food, helps those with depression overcome the blues,
Glaucoma, Epilepsy, Nausia, Insomnia, Stress, Neurosis, Psychosis, Pain PMS
All the studies have been done all the doctors agree, but the corporations can’t make money off this plant you see, because its free, it grows from a seed, wild and free like we oughta be.
The future is growin in our backyards.

Chorus

In this modern world we seem to lack a little spirituality,
This one plant can bring us back 10.000 years in history.
To the Shiva Parahanas, The Jesus The Christ, to Buddah, The Pagans, The Goddess, The Light. To commune with all the animals, commune with all the trees, to realize the god I seek is inside me.
Yeah the futures in our hands, we’ve gotta take care of the Earth.
Because the Earth is the mother that gives life birth.
We can end all our pollution with a single green plant and we can start right now, start right now.

Chorus

So you see in this modern day and age, living in the lap of luxury,
There is really only one plant we need to harvest for almost everything.
We can run our cars on clean hempseed oil, run our generators too.
Stop! Wow I can’t believe hemp has so many uses! I say three cheers for Hemp: Hemp hemp Hooray! Hemp Hemp Hooray! Hemp Hemp hooray!

Chorus

From The Human Revolution website:

"Based on the rocky Mendocino Coast of Northern California, The Human Revolution performs all original music in a style they call “mystic country rock,” their live performances with the full band feature rocking guitars, funky fiddle playing, a solid rhythm section, and reality-based lyrics with a message. The band travels on E-85 ethanol, biodiesel or SVO (straight-veggie oil) whenever possible, and their CDs and merchandise are manufactured as ecologically as is commercially available.

The core of The Human Revolution’s sound is Human, the energetic, singer-songwriter and front man weaned in the Appalachian region of the U.S. on lead vocals, harmonica and rhythm guitar."


Check out The Human Revolution where you can listen to more of their music, find out where they are playing and order their CD's, including their newest release: "The Love Revolution".


To find out more about Hemp, our Tree of Life, please visit Jack Herer's website - learn from the best!

Canada has finally re-legalized Hemp as of March 1, 1998, wherein farmers can officially apply for licenses to grow and process Hemp. Alas, there is still much work to be done - Hemp needs to be utilized and embraced the world over - for the sake of our environment, and the long term survival of The Human Race.


Hemp use in the UK

The Philosophy of Liberty

A very important video that everyone should watch. Pass it on and share with others.

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"I, as a responsible adult human being, will never concede the power to anyone to regulate my choice of what I put into my body, or where I go with my mind. From the skin inwards is my jurisdiction, is it not? I choose what may or may not cross that border. Here I am the Customs Agent. I am the Coast guard. I am the sole legal and spiritual government of this territory, and only the laws I choose to enact within myself are applicable" ~ Alexander Shulgin PhD, Chemist and author, at the DPF Conference, November 1996