In the last few days the news surrounding legalizing Marijuana in Ca. is beginning to build. It starts with the name being given and from here on out to be known as Prop.19. Immediately afterward came the news that the Calif. Chapter of the NAACP will throw it's support behind the Prop. because of the way the laws have impacted the Black Community in a unfair manner.
During the time GWBush was our President the number of people arrested in the US rose to 800,000 a yr., with most of them for simple possession. The Obama presidency shows no ambition to lower that rate so it is up to we Americans to stop it for him and us. Many of us in Ca. are bound and determined to make Ca.. the first state to do away with prohibition for the first time since the 30's.
Many people and org.s will fight back against our movement for many insane reasons, many that should be known for what they are, Unconstitutional. In a new set of essays known as The Cannabis Papers one can read many of the reason we see this current prohibition as unconstitutional. For example in the introduction is this quote...
Liberty provides its own compelling arguments. The war on cannabis users has compromised our liberty. It has been this way so long that many of us don't even recognize the unintended consequences placed on our collective liberty by cannabis prohibition — the collateral damage caused by the war. But as this changes, as cannabis prohibition comes to a close, we can look forward to a better culture — one with fewer invasions of privacy, fewer arrests, fewer imprisonments — and more human choices for relaxation, more affordable wellness/health care, more tax revenues, and, dare we say it — happier citizens. The days of Reefer Madness, when it was believed that marijuana smoking created homicidal maniacs, are behind us. The days of dominant Cheech and Chong images and spaced-out tokesters are behind us. Clearer perceptions about cannabis are emerging. Someone like Montel Williams is the new face of the cannabis patient — a former Marine and successful talk show host who fights Multiple Sclerosis and maintains his health and happiness through the use of cannabinoids. Or even beyond any medical perception, someone like Rick Steves — a successful writer and host of travel shows on television and radio. Or even beyond celebrity — perhaps someone like you?
That brings us to happiness. — Each individual citizen has their own definition of what makes them happy. Notice that the goal is not the "right to be happy" but the pursuit of happiness. This pursuit is intrinsically related to freedom of choice — the right to pursue one's happiness without infringing upon another's right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
During this time of the Kagan hearings to see if she will be our next Supreme Court Justice I think it is a good time to read something also from the Cannabis Papers Intro that was written by another famous Justice.
At one time we believed in the "right to be let alone." In 1928, nine years before cannabis prohibition began, US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote of our constitutional right to be let alone in the case of Olmstead v. U.S.:
The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness. They recognized the significance of man's spiritual nature, of his feelings and his intellect. They knew that only a part of the pain, pleasure and satisfaction of life are to be found in material things. They sought to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions and their sensations. They conferred, as against the Government, the right to be let alone — the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men.
Our justice system since the time of Justice Louis Brandeis has done way too much damage to our simple right of being left alone to be happy. Our Prisons are full of people who hurt no one, stole nothing, and their only crime was the desire to relax, smile and maybe even giggle by smoking a little marijuana. Some simply wanted to reduce the overwhelming pain they were in. Instead of being able to take the one natural drug that reduced their pain our government has chosen to send them to prison, and sometimes worse. Now is the time to put your support where it can make a difference. It is going to take some big money to fight against Big Pharma, and the Private Prisons, not to mention the Religious Right. All 3 plan to put big bucks to work fighting Prop.19. To counter that money you can help by sending just $19.00 or more.
Vote Yes on 19