Vote YES or NO on Prop 19

[Chronic Future]

Thanks SCF


Check this out...free MP3 ...Great Song!!!!

http://www.ziggymarley.com/splash.php

Recording artist Ziggy Marley has released a new single, "A Fire Burns For Freedom," also known as "Wild and Free," in support of Prop 19 and cannabis reform, and is offering the song as a free download on his website.

"I would love if everyone enlightened themselves on the many uses and benefits of this plant," Marley said. "A plant that if utlized to its full potential will greatly benefit humankind in the many different aspects of our lives and existence."

Ziggy's aim is to spread the word about marijuana and what if offers the human race.

"I have been quite surprised in my travels to realize that those who I have come in contact with seem oblivious to the 'other' uses of this amazing gift that has been given to us," Marley said.

Hey thanks vta I needed that, ziggys got alot of wisdom . Blessings

 

[vta]

If California voters legalize pot, whole world will feel the effect

By Andres Oppenheimer


MEXICO CITY — If California voters approve a proposition calling for the legalization of marijuana in the Nov. 2 midterm elections, get ready for a domino effect in Mexico and the rest of Latin America. It is not likely to be immediate, but it will be hard to stop.

Granted, the Obama administration would most likely challenge Proposition 19 in the courts if it were approved.

Most polls show that the California proposal has a better than even chance of passing. But during a visit to Mexico, I found few people in political, academic and business circles who don't believe that passage of Proposition 19 would have a big impact on this country.

It will be very hard for the Mexican government to keep up its U.S.-backed anti-drug policies, especially when it comes to cracking down on the marijuana trade, they said. How can the United States ask Mexico to keep up the fight against marijuana smugglers if the drug becomes legal in California? Ricardo Najera, spokesman for Mexico's attorney general's office, told me that the Mexican government will continue its military offensive against the drug cartels regardless of what happens in California, but added that approval of Proposition 19 would have a "demoralizing impact" on Mexico.

"If one country authorizes something that is prohibited in another country, it creates a very big problem for the country that is combating that particular crime," Najera said. "It would discourage authorities that are working on that front."

The last two Mexican presidents, Ernesto Zedillo and Vicente Fox, have already come out publicly in favor of decriminalizing — or, in Fox's case, legalizing — marijuana production and consumption.

President Felipe Calderón's government opposes legalization, but Calderón has said he is open to holding a national debate about it.

Several of the likely candidates for Mexico's 2012 presidential elections have already said they will support legalization of marijuana if California votes for it.

Marijuana sales to the United States generate about $1.5 billion a year for Mexico's drug cartels, and account for between 15 and 26 percent of the Mexican cartels' overall income, a new RAND Corporation study says.

But experts disagree on whether legalization of marijuana in California would drain Mexico's drug cartels of much income, or reduce their violence. This is because California is already a major producer of marijuana, and the cartels could always turn to other illegal activities to make up for their lost marijuana income.

The Calderón government would most likely not shift toward legalization of marijuana if the drug is legalized in California because it has invested too much political capital in the war on drugs, which has claimed more than 28,000 lives over the past four years. More likely, Calderón would support moves within the United Nations to change international drug policies, many experts say.

"If California approves Proposition 19, we may see a snowball effect," said Luis Astorga, a drug policy researcher with the National Autonomous University of Mexico. "Many countries, such as Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal are likely to ask the United Nations to call for an international convention on marijuana, similar to other conventions that were held in 1961, 1971 and 1988. That would likely lead to a change in the world legal framework that deals with marijuana."

It would be a good idea to call for a U.N. convention to establish once and for all whether — as marijuana legalization proponents say — marijuana is less addictive and harmful than alcohol or tobacco.

If that proves to be the case, then legalize marijuana, and use the billions of dollars now being spent on marijuana repression to help fund education campaigns and treatments to fight harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

At any rate, if Proposition 19 is approved, the impact will be greater abroad than in California, where medical use of marijuana has long been legal, and possession of small amounts of the drug are barely punished with the equivalent of a speeding ticket.

Pro-legalization forces around the world would get one of their biggest boosts ever.

Oppenheimer is a Latin America correspondent for the Miami Herald. E-mail: [email protected].

 

[vta]

Marijuana Web Names Snapped Up


cannabis San Francisco -- It was just about a year ago that Kevin Faler came up with his get-rich-quick marijuana scheme. No, he does not plan to sell the drug, even if Californians vote next week to become the first state in the nation to fully legalize it. He intends to sell the Internet real estate that could one day lead to marijuana Web sites.

Mr. Faler, a former police officer who once worked the narcotics beat, has registered more than 1,000 marijuana-related Internet domain names, including oddities like icecreammarijuana.com and marijuanapastry.com. And he is not the only one banking on the drug’s online future.

He is part of an Internet land grab for marijuana domains by so-called domainers who hope to sell their holdings at a profit, betting that more lenient marijuana laws will eventually drive more people to the Web for their supplies, whether they are seeking seeds, bongs, recipes or drug-laced dog treats.

All of this has been given a fresh burst of intensity by next week’s vote on Proposition 19, the California ballot measure that would legalize up to an ounce of the drug for recreational use. Fourteen states have already legalized medical marijuana.

“Marijuana domain name values will fly off the charts once Prop 19 passes,” said Mr. Faler, 49. “I’m hoping to make enough money to buy a condo in Morocco. That’s how big it’s going to be.”

Mr. Faler, who lives about 90 miles southeast of Los Angeles in Menifee, Calif., is poised to enter the pets and marijuana market by registering domains like potfordogs.com and marijuanadogbone.com because “dogs get cancer too” he says.

While it is unclear if such investments by enthusiastic newcomers will pay off, buying and selling Internet domain names can be a profitable business. The industry is estimated to be worth billions of dollars. A $13 million sale is pending for sex.com. In June, slots.com sold for $5.5 million and dating.com for $1.75 million. The New Jersey company that paid over $1 million for marijuana .com in 2004 says it has turned down five offers for more than $2 million for the domain in the last 12 months.

Domainers use various strategies when acquiring domain names. While Mr. Faler tends to register domains that struck his fancy at odd hours of the night, Jordan Zazzara of Long Island prefers the geographer’s method. With the help of a California map, Mr. Zazzara, 21, chose “geo-targeted” domains, registering ones that combined the state’s major city names with the words marijuana, weed, ganja, bud and cannabis.

For between $7 and $10 dollars a pop, he registered 100 domains stretching between beverlyhillsmarijuana.com and modestocannabis.com. He intends to keep them by renewing the registration every year for a nominal fee, until they are worth at least $5,000 each, he says. “I’ll sit on them for as long as I have to,” he said. “And when marijuana is an accepted thing like alcohol, which it eventually will be, these things will be worth a lot.”

Despite the enthusiasm of speculators, whether this marijuana domain gold rush will yield much legal tender depends in large part on politics.

In recent weeks, Proposition 19 has lost its lead in the polls — a recent one from the Public Policy Institute of California showed 49 percent of respondents against the measure and 44 percent in favor — but it is still favored by most younger voters and Democrats. In another blow to Proposition 19 supporters, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced that even if voters passed the ballot measure, federal law enforcement officials planned to aggressively prosecute federal marijuana laws in the state.

"How much these things are worth is up to the political winds,” said Michael H. Berkens, editor of thedomains.com, a leading online news source on the domain business.

So far, most marijuana domains are being registered and resold on the cheap. DN Journal, an online publication that tracks domain sales, has documented just one dot-com domain containing the word “marijuana” that sold this year for at least $2,000, suggesting they are not yet worth much.

Still, Mr. Berkens thinks marijuana domains could be a good investment; he sees the political momentum moving toward legalization and decriminalization. “We own gaymarriage.com,” said Mr. Berkens, who is also president of Worldwide Media, a company that owns some 75,000 domains, 57 of them marijuana related. “That’s another one of these politically charged hot topics, heavily dependent on politics.”

Some in the domain business are torn for more personal reasons between a potentially lucrative investment opportunity and the moral ambiguities of marijuana.

In late September, Shane Cultra, 41, was bidding in an online auction for the domain smokingmarijuana.com when suddenly he stopped, midclick. “I asked myself, do I want to be in that business?” said Mr. Cultra, who runs a nursery in Champaign-Urbana, Ill., and moonlights as a domainer specializing in plant and horticultural domains.

“There is tremendous investment opportunity there,” Mr. Cultra said. “Before long, you will be able to buy and sell marijuana on the Internet.”

But Mr. Cultra worries about associating his name — which he shares with an uncle who is a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives — with illegal, or morally shady, activities. He has a rule against buying pornography domains, another potentially profitable endeavor.

If marijuana were legal nationally, Mr. Cultra would not hesitate to snap up marijuana domains. “But then it will be too late,” he said. “The real opportunity is now.”

A version of this article appeared in print on October 28, 2010, on page A14 of the National edition..

Source: New York Times (NY)
Author: Malia Wollan

 

[vta]

Thomas Paine
I just thought you folks could use a little Common Sense...

Hello All Californians.

Sadly, I was never able to see your beautiful state in my Earthly lifetime, to my great regret. But you may recall I wrote the book—“Common Sense”—that sparked the Revolution that made you free.

And I authored the “Age of Reason,” which had some things to say about the ability of human beings to make rational decisions about their fate.

In that spirit, I have been contacted by my old friend George Washington. Among other things George asked me to write “Winter Soldier,” which helped inspire our troops to continue the fight against the King.

As you all know, we won that one. Big Time.

Now it’s time you exercise the freedom we won you.

George wants me to transcribe our most recent conversation about the Proposition 19 referendum on legalizing smoking hemp, or what you now call “marijuana.”

I must tell you that George, Ben, Tom, Jaimy Madison—all of us!—have greeted with disbelief that news that this crop is somehow illegal. I did all my best writing on paper made from hemp, often while under the influence of the vapors I derived from smoking it.

I will leave it at that for now, as George has asked to be heard:

Take on the dominant global superpower of the day? With a bunch of ragtag farmers bearing muskets? What the hell was I smoking?

A MESSAGE FROM THE FATHER OF YOUR COUNTRY:

Hello Californians.

What a lovely name. I only wish I had seen your countryside in my lifetime.

I am talking to you through Tom Paine to say that it is time to end this silly ban on smoking hemp, or, as you now call it for some reason, marijuana.

In my lifetime, there was no plant for which I had a greater fondness. It was the easiest to grow of all my crops, and the most profitable. We used it for clothing, rope, sails, textiles, feed, food, fuel and much more.

Certainly there was no crop for which our brave American farmers had greater enthusiasm. It was the number one cash crop on virtually all farms in America, and probably the top money earner for all the states taken together.

My good friend Tom Jefferson vastly preferred it to tobacco, or to any other crop he grew. He wrote his wonderful Declaration on paper made from it. Ben Franklin built an entire mill that used hemp as its primary stock.

And though we wrote about it rarely, we all enjoyed smoking a good pipeful at the end of the day. Knowledge of this came to us through the Greeks and Romans, and before that the Chinese and Indians, whose seeds I greatly treasured, and widely recommended. Of course our friends among the native tribes often provided us with the very best of their smoking matter.

Though it is somewhat difficult to retain decorum about this issue, I must tell you that if anyone had walked into our Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and told us that someday, in this great nation we were founding, citizens would be put in jail for possessing this great herb, we would have laughed them out of the room. Now that I see what is being done to innocent citizens who raise and smoke this herb as we did, I am tempted to demand that the authorities responsible for this foolishness THEMSELVES be incarcerated.

So as the Father of Our Country, I ORDER you to vote for Proposition 19.

I realize, of course, that I am no longer Commander in Chief, or even your president, and our great nation is a democracy. So you are free to do as you choose, and I have said this to get your attention.

But how do you think we survived at Morristown and Valley Forge? Under what other influence could I have dared to dream of crossing the Delaware in the dead of winter to surprise the Hessians at Trenton.

I have said enough. I merely wish to remind you that EVERY Founder who had land grew hemp EVERY drafter of the Constitution, when asked, would wonder how on Earth it ever became illegal.

Your children and grandchildren will someday ask the same. I left this planet knowing future generations would revere us for the wisdom and bravery to stand for what was natural and right.

As a Founder, I expect all Americans to exhibit the same Common Sense. Vote Yes on Proposition 19 and begin the restoration of sanity to this great nation.

May God Bless the United States of America.

George Washington.

Norml

 

[vta]

Mikki Norris breaks it down on Pepper and wide-spread support for Prop 19

Posted by Mickey Martin

Unfortunately, if you have been following her screeds, Letitia Pepper appears to be delusional and behaving like an agent provocateur.

She moved in on the movement in these last few months just in time to undermine or reverse decades of good work by the hard-working activists and all the major reform organizations who brought us to where we stand today – and from which she is benefitting (if she truly is a patient). Yet she sows discord, spews personal attacks, and uses scare tactics, distortion, deception and false or twisted logic to trick people out of voting Yes on Prop 19, the next logical step in our struggle for social justice and equality. She is working to obstruct real change from happening and blocking us from our goal of legalization.

Why does Pepper want to keep prohibition locked in? Why would anyone even believe or trust her? What has she done to promote our freedom and rights? All she does is misinterpret the laws, the court rulings and this initiative, and spend money of unknown origin to spread falsehood and stir up opposition. She comes from a law firm that works to shut down dispensaries. She never says anything against attorney general candidate Steve Cooley, who wants to shut down the dispensaries. It’s all very suspicious.

Sure, people fear change and the unknown, and there are vested interests in keeping marijuana illegal (people benefitting from high-priced cannabis, those who think cannabis is so dangerous only patients should be able to use it with a doctor’s note, growers who don’t want to go above-board and earn an honest living in a regulated market; narcs, cartels, and other prohibitionists whose paychecks depend on keeping it illegal, etc). Look at who’s funding and endorsing the No campaign. She sides with the narcs and a federal government intent on keeping us second-class citizens and, given all the arrests and dispensary raids going on in California, doesn’t even respect patient rights or access.

We stand at a moment of unprecedented support for our movement and quite possibly at a tipping point. Prop. 19 is written in a manner that has generated tremendous support and endorsements from a variety of sources never seen before. This opportunity to change the paradigm should not be missed – there is no guarantee that we will have a another chance to make major steps forward any time soon. The great support it has will be there if we pass it. Prop. 19 has already benefited our movement, as the campaign has concentrated on building coalitions that will help us implement it. Whatever the outcome, we need to hold together as a movement and maintain these new coalitions and connections.

Prop. 19 has the support of the CA NAACP, the Latino Voters League, and ACLU of Northern California, Southern California and San Diego, because they recognize how important it is to end discrimination that marijuana prohibition perpetuates. Prohibition is racist in application, makes criminals out of good people, and prevents people from getting jobs, benefits, custody of children, etc. If it passes, you can rest assured that they will be there to help implement it and end the abuse.

Prop. 19 has the support of many unions, like the SEIU and the United Food and Commercial Workers because it opens the door to a new, legal industry with the potential for good-paying jobs, jobs, and more jobs.

Prop.19 has the support of physicians like the Former Surgeon General of the US Joycelyn Elders and Dr. Larry Bedard, Former President of the American College of Emergency Physicians, because they know that cannabis is safer than alcohol and tobacco and that the consequences of prohibition are more harmful to people than cannabis ever could be.

Prop. 19 has the support of 75 law professors who signed a letter endorsing it. (See http://yeson19.com/endorse/lawprofessors/text ) They say that marijuana prohibition is an ineffective and bankrupt policy and understand that Prop. 19 will enable the courts to concentrate on prosecuting and incarcerating serious and violent criminals, rather than non-violent marijuana offenders. It will end useless and harmful arrests and incarcerations.

Prop. 19 has the support of Moms United Against the Drug War because it will do a better job of keeping kids from getting cannabis with a regulated and controlled market, and keep more people from getting future-crushing criminal records than the current system.

Prop. 19 has the support of the National Black Police Association, the National Latino Officers Association, LEAP and other law enforcement groups who have experience in the field and know that it is a racist, failed policy, that it wastes law enforcement resources, and that it will put a dent in the cartels operations and the subsequent problems they create. They see it as enhancing public safety. (See Former Police Chief Joe McNamara’s TV ad at www.yeson19.com)

Prop. 19 has the support of faith leaders and groups like the California Council of Churches IMPACT
Progressive Jewish Alliance, Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry Action Network, and the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative because there is a moral imperative to end the discrimination against good people who use cannabis and they believe that compassion should lead our drug policy. Of course, they support compassionate use, but they also realize that it’s wrong to criminalize healthy people in the process.

Prop. 19 has the support of reform organizations like NORML, MPP, Drug Policy Alliance, DrugSense, DRCNet, the Cannabis Consumers Campaign, Safe Access Now, the Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board and nearly all of the leaders in the cannabis movement, because they know that medical marijuana is protected, and see Prop. 19 as a major step forward from the status quo. These groups and individuals have been working for reform for years or decades and understand that it makes sense strategically to address the concerns of the greater population, while advancing our cause of social justice, compassion, and human rights. Prop. 19 is on the ballot and a win will send a message heard around the world that it is time to legalize cannabis, the “Berlin Wall” of Prohibition that causes so much harm to our community is coming down, and that people who use cannabis deserve to be treated equally under the law.

Prop. 19 is about the future of cannabis and of the movement. Do we want to constrain marijuana and keep it medical, or are we ready to extend equal rights to all adults over 21? Do we want to develop the cannabis industry to help generate jobs, create more products and access to good quality, lower-priced cannabis along with revenue for the common good, or do we submit to prohibition-subsidized, inflated, underground prices and sacrifice non-medical cannabis providers to criminal penalties? Do we want the lack of quality controls and prosecutorial whims of law enforcement to continue? Do we cower to fear mongering by people like Letitia Pepper, or do we make a stand? I say it’s time to challenge the powers that be with a message sent straight from the California voters: Cannabis is good and we, the people, want it to be legal.

I have been working on this issue for 22 years now, and I am proudly voting for Prop. 19. I am not afraid of the future possibilities for cannabis, and I ask you to stand with me and all these wonderful supporters who believe that criminalization of good people who use cannabis is wrong and should be a thing of the past. We are the people who have worked so hard to bring reform to the level it is now with Prop. 215 and SB 420, and we know that our work will not be done if it passes. We know that we will have to be vigilant to make sure that our rights are implemented as intended — to allow patients and non-patient adults alike to use, grow, share, buy and sell cannabis just like we do with other legally, regulated, taxed and controlled products. We are the people who want freedom, justice, and equal rights for all cannabis consumers. Please join us in telling everyone you know to vote No on Steve Cooley and Yes on Prop. 19.

MikkiUnfortunately, if you have been following her screeds, Letitia Pepper appears to be delusional and behaving like an agent provocateur.

She moved in on the movement in these last few months just in time to undermine or reverse decades of good work by the hard-working activists and all the major reform organizations who brought us to where we stand today – and from which she is benefitting (if she truly is a patient). Yet she sows discord, spews personal attacks, and uses scare tactics, distortion, deception and false or twisted logic to trick people out of voting Yes on Prop 19, the next logical step in our struggle for social justice and equality. She is working to obstruct real change from happening and blocking us from our goal of legalization.

Why does Pepper want to keep prohibition locked in? Why would anyone even believe or trust her? What has she done to promote our freedom and rights? All she does is misinterpret the laws, the court rulings and this initiative, and spend money of unknown origin to spread falsehood and stir up opposition. She comes from a law firm that works to shut down dispensaries. She never says anything against attorney general candidate Steve Cooley, who wants to shut down the dispensaries. It’s all very suspicious.

Sure, people fear change and the unknown, and there are vested interests in keeping marijuana illegal (people benefitting from high-priced cannabis, those who think cannabis is so dangerous only patients should be able to use it with a doctor’s note, growers who don’t want to go above-board and earn an honest living in a regulated market; narcs, cartels, and other prohibitionists whose paychecks depend on keeping it illegal, etc). Look at who’s funding and endorsing the No campaign. She sides with the narcs and a federal government intent on keeping us second-class citizens and, given all the arrests and dispensary raids going on in California, doesn’t even respect patient rights or access.

We stand at a moment of unprecedented support for our movement and quite possibly at a tipping point. Prop. 19 is written in a manner that has generated tremendous support and endorsements from a variety of sources never seen before. This opportunity to change the paradigm should not be missed – there is no guarantee that we will have a another chance to make major steps forward any time soon. The great support it has will be there if we pass it. Prop. 19 has already benefited our movement, as the campaign has concentrated on building coalitions that will help us implement it. Whatever the outcome, we need to hold together as a movement and maintain these new coalitions and connections.

Prop. 19 has the support of the CA NAACP, the Latino Voters League, and ACLU of Northern California, Southern California and San Diego, because they recognize how important it is to end discrimination that marijuana prohibition perpetuates. Prohibition is racist in application, makes criminals out of good people, and prevents people from getting jobs, benefits, custody of children, etc. If it passes, you can rest assured that they will be there to help implement it and end the abuse.

Prop. 19 has the support of many unions, like the SEIU and the United Food and Commercial Workers because it opens the door to a new, legal industry with the potential for good-paying jobs, jobs, and more jobs.

Prop.19 has the support of physicians like the Former Surgeon General of the US Joycelyn Elders and Dr. Larry Bedard, Former President of the American College of Emergency Physicians, because they know that cannabis is safer than alcohol and tobacco and that the consequences of prohibition are more harmful to people than cannabis ever could be.

Prop. 19 has the support of 75 law professors who signed a letter endorsing it. (See http://yeson19.com/endorse/lawprofessors/text ) They say that marijuana prohibition is an ineffective and bankrupt policy and understand that Prop. 19 will enable the courts to concentrate on prosecuting and incarcerating serious and violent criminals, rather than non-violent marijuana offenders. It will end useless and harmful arrests and incarcerations.

Prop. 19 has the support of Moms United Against the Drug War because it will do a better job of keeping kids from getting cannabis with a regulated and controlled market, and keep more people from getting future-crushing criminal records than the current system.

Prop. 19 has the support of the National Black Police Association, the National Latino Officers Association, LEAP and other law enforcement groups who have experience in the field and know that it is a racist, failed policy, that it wastes law enforcement resources, and that it will put a dent in the cartels operations and the subsequent problems they create. They see it as enhancing public safety. (See Former Police Chief Joe McNamara’s TV ad at www.yeson19.com)

Prop. 19 has the support of faith leaders and groups like the California Council of Churches IMPACT
Progressive Jewish Alliance, Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry Action Network, and the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative because there is a moral imperative to end the discrimination against good people who use cannabis and they believe that compassion should lead our drug policy. Of course, they support compassionate use, but they also realize that it’s wrong to criminalize healthy people in the process.

Prop. 19 has the support of reform organizations like NORML, MPP, Drug Policy Alliance, DrugSense, DRCNet, the Cannabis Consumers Campaign, Safe Access Now, the Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board and nearly all of the leaders in the cannabis movement, because they know that medical marijuana is protected, and see Prop. 19 as a major step forward from the status quo. These groups and individuals have been working for reform for years or decades and understand that it makes sense strategically to address the concerns of the greater population, while advancing our cause of social justice, compassion, and human rights. Prop. 19 is on the ballot and a win will send a message heard around the world that it is time to legalize cannabis, the “Berlin Wall” of Prohibition that causes so much harm to our community is coming down, and that people who use cannabis deserve to be treated equally under the law.

Prop. 19 is about the future of cannabis and of the movement. Do we want to constrain marijuana and keep it medical, or are we ready to extend equal rights to all adults over 21? Do we want to develop the cannabis industry to help generate jobs, create more products and access to good quality, lower-priced cannabis along with revenue for the common good, or do we submit to prohibition-subsidized, inflated, underground prices and sacrifice non-medical cannabis providers to criminal penalties? Do we want the lack of quality controls and prosecutorial whims of law enforcement to continue? Do we cower to fear mongering by people like Letitia Pepper, or do we make a stand? I say it’s time to challenge the powers that be with a message sent straight from the California voters: Cannabis is good and we, the people, want it to be legal.

I have been working on this issue for 22 years now, and I am proudly voting for Prop. 19. I am not afraid of the future possibilities for cannabis, and I ask you to stand with me and all these wonderful supporters who believe that criminalization of good people who use cannabis is wrong and should be a thing of the past. We are the people who have worked so hard to bring reform to the level it is now with Prop. 215 and SB 420, and we know that our work will not be done if it passes. We know that we will have to be vigilant to make sure that our rights are implemented as intended — to allow patients and non-patient adults alike to use, grow, share, buy and sell cannabis just like we do with other legally, regulated, taxed and controlled products. We are the people who want freedom, justice, and equal rights for all cannabis consumers. Please join us in telling everyone you know to vote No on Steve Cooley and Yes on Prop. 19.

Mikki Norris

 

[THE PABLOS]

I'm making my last political post ever...politics are not for me....I don't enjoy all the name calling etc...the division amongst the pot heads....the retarded bashing of each other. Totally turns me off.

For the record....I watched the news this morning (usually do not pay attention to that rubbish)...um seeing all the LEO lined up and bagging on this 19 issue.....and seeing those faces....there is no way I can side with those peeps. I just can not do it.....

19 is not perfect...the world is not perfect....but those fuckers are straight liars....and to that....I can not turn a blind eye.

There's my fucking YES....for better or worse

 

[BigBudBill]

I'm making my last political post ever...politics are not for me....I don't enjoy all the name calling etc...the division amongst the pot heads....the retarded bashing of each other. Totally turns me off.

For the record....I watched the news this morning (usually do not pay attention to that rubbish)...um seeing all the LEO lined up and bagging on this 19 issue.....and seeing those faces....there is no way I can side with those peeps. I just can not do it.....

19 is not perfect...the world is not perfect....but those fuckers are straight liars....and to that....I can not turn a blind eye.

There's my fucking YES....for better or worse

Damn right!

 

[vta]

I'm making my last political post ever...politics are not for me....I don't enjoy all the name calling etc...the division amongst the pot heads....the retarded bashing of each other. Totally turns me off.

For the record....I watched the news this morning (usually do not pay attention to that rubbish)...um seeing all the LEO lined up and bagging on this 19 issue.....and seeing those faces....there is no way I can side with those peeps. I just can not do it.....

19 is not perfect...the world is not perfect....but those fuckers are straight liars....and to that....I can not turn a blind eye.

There's my fucking YES....for better or worse

That made my day

 

[vta]

ACLU Letter To Attorney General Argues There Is No Basis For Challenging California’s Proposition 19

Tuesday, October 26, 2010


The American Civil Liberties Union and its three California affiliates today sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), arguing that there would be no legal basis for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to sue to overturn Proposition 19 should it be approved next month by California voters, and urging the Justice Department to not change its current law enforcement focus on major criminal activity in favor of new enforcement activities against California marijuana users.

The letter asks Holder and Kerlikowske to stop threatening costly litigation and the deployment of federal drug police to arrest individuals who might use marijuana if the state enacts the proposition, which would allow adults 21 and older to possess and grow small amounts of marijuana for their personal use and allow cities and counties to regulate and tax commercial sales. The letter calls such rhetoric “unnecessarily alarmist” and says it does little to foster a balanced discussion of a legitimate policy issue.

“Proposition 19 would remove state criminal penalties for certain adult marijuana use,” says the ACLU‟s letter. “The new law would not require anyone to do anything in violation of federal law. There would be no positive conflict.”

News reports have indicated that federal officials have not ruled out following a recommendation by nine former Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) chiefs to sue to overturn Proposition 19 under a wrongly-held belief that it would violate the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. In a letter to the nine former DEA chiefs made public earlier this month, Holder said he will “vigorously enforce” federal laws against marijuana in California, even if Proposition 19 is approved.

The ACLU‟s letter argues that states do not have to march in lockstep with the federal government‟s prohibition of marijuana possession and that California can decide for itself whether it wishes to remove state criminal law penalties for adult marijuana use. An explicit clause of the Controlled Substances Act, passed by Congress in 1970, holds that preemption of state drug laws is limited to a narrow set of circumstances where there is a “positive conflict” between state and federal law “so that the two cannot consistently stand together.”

The ACLU‟s letter also highlights the fact that African Americans and Latinos are disproportionately arrested for low-level marijuana possession in California and across the nation even though their usage rates are the same as or lower than those of whites.

“The ACLU took heart from Director Kerlikowske‟s acknowledgement that the „war on drugs‟ has failed,” states the ACLU‟s letter. “But instead of scaling back the rhetoric associated with that ineffective and out-of-date campaign, it appears the administration would resist California‟s modest attempt to begin dismantling one of the defining injustices of our failed drug policies: that the war on drugs has become a war on minorities.”

A new report released last week shows that from 2006 to 2008, police in 25 of California‟s major cities arrested blacks at four to 12 times the rate of whites.

“The historical and racially disparate enforcement of marijuana laws is a primary reason why [the ACLU of Northern California, the ACLU of Southern California and the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties] have endorsed Proposition 19,” the ACLU‟s letter reads.

The ACLU‟s letter to Holder also questions why the federal government‟s response to the enactment of Proposition 19 should be any different than its approach to the existence in California and 13 other states of laws allowing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

“We commend DOJ‟s instruction last year to U.S. attorneys that prosecuting medical marijuana patients who comply with state laws should not be a federal law enforcement priority,” the ACLU‟s letter reads. “The very same standards should apply if Proposition 19 is enacted. Regardless of the federal government‟s disagreement with California‟s choice to amend state criminal law, it makes no more sense for the federal government to waste scarce resources policing low-level, non-violent marijuana offenses after Proposition 19 passes, than before.”

Californians have every right to enact Proposition 19, the ACLU‟s letter asserts, in an effort to curtail the wasting of criminal justice resources on the policing of low-level adult marijuana offenses and to help end the selective enforcement of drug laws.

“This is about priorities,” the ACLU‟s letter reads. “Given the state of the economy, record unemployment and foreclosure rates, and thousands of troops deployed abroad, should voters enact Proposition 19, we hope the federal government will re-evaluate its priorities and use scarce federal enforcement resources wisely.”


View the letter here

 

[Koroz]

I'm making my last political post ever...politics are not for me....I don't enjoy all the name calling etc...the division amongst the pot heads....the retarded bashing of each other. Totally turns me off.

For the record....I watched the news this morning (usually do not pay attention to that rubbish)...um seeing all the LEO lined up and bagging on this 19 issue.....and seeing those faces....there is no way I can side with those peeps. I just can not do it.....

19 is not perfect...the world is not perfect....but those fuckers are straight liars....and to that....I can not turn a blind eye.

There's my fucking YES....for better or worse

agreed.

 

[Herborizer]

I'm making my last political post ever...politics are not for me....I don't enjoy all the name calling etc...the division amongst the pot heads....the retarded bashing of each other. Totally turns me off.

For the record....I watched the news this morning (usually do not pay attention to that rubbish)...um seeing all the LEO lined up and bagging on this 19 issue.....and seeing those faces....there is no way I can side with those peeps. I just can not do it.....

19 is not perfect...the world is not perfect....but those fuckers are straight liars....and to that....I can not turn a blind eye.

There's my fucking YES....for better or worse

Hell yeah brother! I am with you 100%

 

[mean mr.mustard]

What is the right reason?

We now take you back to the mustard blog

As long winded as you get I'm sad you never answered me.

I hope you lead a long and prosperous life.

All of you.

As one.



PS Since this is my thread anyway .... Mikki is talking pure hypocrisy here:

I am not afraid of the future possibilities for cannabis, and I ask you to stand with me and all these wonderful supporters who believe that criminalization of good people who use cannabis is wrong and should be a thing of the past.

When laws don't put people in prison for cannabis, we've won. Until then we've only stroked The Dream for someone else.

I too like Paine. He says things as wise as:

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated

 

[vta]

As long winded as you get I'm sad you never answered me.

I hope you lead a long and prosperous life.

All of you.

As one.

I was replying to his description of a certain demographic. That would be the growers that grow sub-par cannabis and use the Medical laws to make black market dough. You know...the guy that sells a $300 oz to a cancer patient. The ones crying NO on 19 cause they care more about their profits than the general good of their fellow humans. Fuck those guys. Fuck em hard!

We recoup only costs with donations. We do it to help others and to keep ourselves in smoke.

I have no problem with people growing just to sell...but the ones that hide behind 215 and then support to keep cannabis illegal so they can keep profits high...like I said...Fuck em!

 

[Natagonnaworrie]

Facts about Meg Whitman

Facts about Meg Whitman

· The fourth wealthiest woman in the state of California with a net worth of $1.3 billion

· She has spent more of her own money on her candidacy than any other self-funded political candidate in U.S. history

· Whitman's tenure as CEO also saw eBay complete the purchase of Skype for $4.1B in September 2005. In 2009, Skype was sold by eBay at a valuation of $2.75B.

· In June of 2007, while preparing for an interview with Reuters, Whitman allegedly shoved her subordinate, communications employee Young Mi Kim. Kim stated, “Yes, we had an unfortunate incident, but we resolved it in a way that speaks well for her and for eBay”. The matter was resolved after a six-figure settlement.

· She was appointed to the board of Goldman Sachs in October, 2001 and then resigned in December 2002, amidst controversy that she had received shares in several public offerings managed by Goldman Sachs.

· Whitman founded a charitable foundation with husband Harsh on 21 December 2006 by donating to it 300,000 shares of eBay stock worth $9.4 million. By the end of its first year of operation, the Griffith R. Harsh IV and Margaret C Whitman Charitable Foundation had $46 million in assets and has disbursed only $125,000 to charitable causes.

· In 2010 Warren Buffett asked Whitman to join the Giving Pledge in which billionaires would commit to donate half of their money to charity, and Whitman declined

· Whitman said that if elected, on her first day she would suspend AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, to study its potential economic implications. AB32 requires the state to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020.

· In a 2010 interview on television station KTLA, Whitman said, "I want to hold employers accountable for hiring only documented workers. Later it was revealed that Nicky Diaz Santillan employed in the Whitman household as a housekeeper and nanny from 2000-2009 despite her status as an undocumented worker.

· Whitman fired Santillan immediately after the housekeeper had volunteered the information, without offering help either financially or in seeking legal residency.

· Santillan says Whitman knew she was undocumented, producing a 2003 letter from the Social Security Administration stating that her Social Security number did not match her name. Whitman initially stated that they "never received those letters" however, after a hand-written note on the document was shown, believed to be from Whitman's husband, they acknowledged they may have received it, but forgot.

· In a letter to the Sacramento Bee Whitman's spokeswoman Sarah Pompei said: “Meg believes the state cannot afford the costs associated with high-speed rail due to our current fiscal crisis”. Her opponent Jerry Brown is in favor of the project, which is estimated to create about 600,000 jobs.

· The Sacramento Bee reported that Whitman did not vote for 28 years, after reviewing her voting records in California. Whitman has described her voting record as "atrocious",

· The L.A. Times noted that Latino voters were more likely interested that Whitman treated Santillan "like a piece of garbage" when the maid asked for help finding an immigration attorney, and Whitman stated "you don't know me and I don't know you".

· While Whitman was on Goldman’s board, she served on the compensation committee, which approved multi-million dollar bonus packages for then-CEO Henry Paulson and his top aides.

· Whitman has chalked up quite a record of eliminating jobs and arranging big bonuses for herself and other management personnel. The California Labor Federation calls her a “serial outsourcer” who sent 40 percent of eBay’s jobs to low wage areas abroad. Between 2002 and 2007, Whitman increased the number of overseas workers at eBay by 666 percent, rather than keeping jobs in California.

· Whitman has proposed cutting 40,000 state workers from the payroll, including employees of the University of California system.

Finally….

· Whitman has said that the legalization of marijuana is not what any law enforcement person would suggest for any reason and that "this is the worst idea [she has] ever seen.

I’m usually not very political… but this woman makes my skin crawl.

 

[Classic Seeds]

meg hitlerman bitch hater thief and all around low life if she did not have leggs she would leave a snail trail every where she went .she stole from e-bay listers and would not allow high times or pot books to be sold at one point she is a low life piece of crap and i apoligize to the crap for using their name when discribing the reason abortions should be legal

 

[vta]

The California Chamber's Reefer Madness

cannabis California -- Critics of Proposition 19 which would legalize the private possession of limited quantities of marijuana by adults and allow local governments to regulate its commercial production and retail distribution, will do and say just about anything. Case in point: Radio ads sponsored by the California Chamber of Commerce allege that passage of the measure will threaten workplace safety, a campaign The Times reported on in an Oct. 27 article.

The claim is a bald-faced lie.

Proposition 19 seeks to decriminalize private, adult cannabis consumption while preserving existing legal prohibitions on activities that threaten public safety. As a result, the new law would explicitly forbid the use of marijuana in public and in the workplace and maintain legal restrictions that penalize those who are under the influence while on the job or on California's roadways. According to an analysis published by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office, "Employers would retain existing rights to address consumption of marijuana that impairs an employee's job performance."

In other words, employers would still have the power to punish those who get high on the job. Consuming marijuana at home and then showing up to work impaired by its effects could still be banned under Proposition 19, just as employers can punish their employees for arriving to work drunk. Further, because Proposition 19 would maintain prohibitions on using marijuana in public, employees would also be forbidden from consuming pot during their work breaks. Employers have and will maintain the right to establish, develop and enforce any policy they choose that does not violate any existing statute after Proposition 19 passes, just as before.

So why would the Chamber of Commerce claim otherwise? Opponents of Proposition 19 appear to be fixated on one particular clause in the proposition — language that happens to be clearly written and very specific — which requires employers to acknowledge an employee's impaired job performance before they can discipline or fire them. Of course, this is the same standard that exists for alcohol. Off-the-job alcohol consumption that has no adverse effect on workplace performance is acceptable, while alcohol use that impairs workplace performance, including the use of alcohol in legally acceptable situations and environments, is grounds for discipline or termination.

Further, Proposition 19 would in no way undermine federal drug-free workplace rules or California's ability to receive federal grants. Just as the state's 14-year experience with legalized medical marijuana has never once jeopardized or cost California federal funding, Proposition 19 wouldn't either. In fact, in 2008, the California Supreme Court determined in Ross vs. RagingWire Telecom that legal protections allowing for the use of marijuana in private do not extend to the workplace. End of story.

Finally, the Legislative Analyst's Office was equally clear that passage of Proposition 19 will in no way alter or undermine the ability of cops to target and prosecute DUI drivers or marijuana use on school grounds. The analyst found: "The measure would not change existing laws that prohibit driving under the influence of drugs or that prohibit possessing marijuana on the grounds of elementary, middle and high schools." Driving under the influence of marijuana is already illegal in California, and these offenses are vigorously prosecuted. Proposition 19 would not change these facts.

Rhetoric aside, Proposition 19 puts police priorities where they belong — away from targeting adults who use marijuana responsibly and toward fighting violent crime and gang activity. It will generate billions in state and local tax revenue to help our schools, teachers, nurses, firefighters and cops. Legalizing the marijuana industry would create jobs, including 60,000 new, sustainable single-earner union jobs, according to the California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, while eliminating the involvement of criminal enterprises, including Mexican drug traffickers, from the California marijuana market.

That is why Proposition 19 is endorsed by a broad range of leading criminal justice, civil rights and religious organizations, including the National Black Police Assn., the California Council of Churches IMPACT, the California NAACP, the Service Employees International Union of California, the California League of United Latin American Citizens, the Latino Voters League, the Progressive Jewish Alliance and the Western States Council of the United Food and Commercial Workers.

I encourage you to visit yeson19.com and support Proposition 19.

Dan Rush is an organizer with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5.

Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Author: Dan Rush

 

[jaysplifferton]

its too bad nobody cares about social issues or character or anything...

$ $ $ dolla dolla dolla

srsly tho what a terrible abhorrent being

 

[Chronic Future]

I wont vote for whitman I dont trust her and I know everyone in california is like why is she spending so much money? It's like she thinks she can buy the election. She looks hella shady to me, she's just another billionaire fat cat that wants to help out her rich friends and help her self make more money, noway shes spending all that money so she can help the people if she's spending that kind of bread, she's doing it as a investment .I cant stand rich snobs that dont have a heart for poor people.

 

[Chronic Future]

I'm making my last political post ever...politics are not for me....I don't enjoy all the name calling etc...the division amongst the pot heads....the retarded bashing of each other. Totally turns me off.

For the record....I watched the news this morning (usually do not pay attention to that rubbish)...um seeing all the LEO lined up and bagging on this 19 issue.....and seeing those faces....there is no way I can side with those peeps. I just can not do it.....

19 is not perfect...the world is not perfect....but those fuckers are straight liars....and to that....I can not turn a blind eye.

There's my fucking YES....for better or worse

I hear ya man noway im voting with the pigs not after all the times I almost got poped . Peace

 

[SOTF420]

I'm glad she is wasting money nobody I know is voting for her dumbass. She is evil.