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<$Project P.E.A.C.E. -- Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics$>
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--- Paul Chang in Jamaica sent this article:
>
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20030402/news/news6.html
>
> Ganja laws should be reviewed, says Forbes
> published: Wednesday | April 2, 2003
>
> By Devon Evans, Freelance Writer
>
> OCHO RIOS:
>
> COMMISSIONER OF Police, Francis Forbes, has called
> for an urgent review of the ganja laws in Jamaica to
> determine whether the police should continue to
> arrest people for smoking a ganja spliff.
>
> He pointed out that the cost to the police in
> processing one case involving a ganja spliff far
> outweigh the small fine for this offence in the
> courts and that this amounts to an insult to the
> police.
>
> "Somebody has to make a decision. If we are not to
> prosecute for a spliff, take it off the books but
> don't keep it on the books and fine him a $100. It
> doesn't pay for one hour work from that policeman,
> so somebody needs to do something about this law",
> Commissioner Forbes argued.
And this is what I wrote back....
: ) }-***************************
Bravo! Commissioner Forbes,
Now learn about how valuable Cannabis is! How GOOD it
is for so many things! Discover the whole truth! Not
just the obvious -- that it is wrong to prosecute a
free man for a spliff!
The man is getting humble natural benefit from the
spliff, and if you arrest that man, then you are
causing him un-natural harm, like a bandit who has
come to take his freedom, just because the government
says you can. Just leave him be!
Take off the glasses of the prohibitonist predators
and it all becomes quite clear, that all it is about
is making money by criminalizing a natural global
culture. It is the same as the witch hunts of New
England that we think are so barbaric, when they
burned people alive for living a bit differently.
Prohibition is worse, because we are supposed to be
civilized and an advanced culture.
But we are not. The warlike among us continue to prey
upon the peaceful people of the world. Those who force
prohibition and prisons, over freedom and schools, are
the gangsters in government, robbing with the
permission of anti-natural "law".
Natural law says something else. Natural law says that
Cannabis will continue to grow, long, long after
mankind has become extinct, by our own thoughtless
disrespect for Natural Law.
The truth is that Cannabis has never been truly
illegal. The laws are illegal. The laws are killing
us, and will continue to kill us, until we end
prohibition.
for peace,
Paul von Hartmann
Project P.E.A.C.E.
Planet Ecology Advancing Conscious Economics
http://www.webspawner.com/users/projectpeace
posted by projectpeace @
11:27 AM
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Thursday, April 03, 2003  |
This most recent assault on the Civil Liberties of the people of the United States
is yet another insult to generations of courageous Americans who gave so much to protect our freedoms.
It is the most foul treason which is being proposed, not a proper legislative bill.
Those who would attempt to subvert the Constituitonally protected rights of Americans,
using the legislative process itself to achieve those ends, must be identified for the "bad apples"
that they are, and immediately removed from positions of influence.
Who would support such a bill? Those are the people President Dwight D. Eisenhauer warned us of
in his final address to the Nation. We are faced with these people now.
It is more than obvious, more than blatant. The question is, how will we respond?
In my opinion, the extreme nature of this proposal is such that those who support this legislation
ought to be charged with treason against the United States. Ask yourself one question.
Will these bills make the country you love more free or less free? That is the issue.
Scott Imler is a dear friend, and a dedicated, hard working person with a huge heart.
The care that he gives to the sick and dying would, in a rational society, bring honor and praise.
If you were dying, you would want this person to help you through it. Please don't make the
morally unaccountable mistake of sending this kind person to prison.
I'm writing to urge you to oppose both the RAVE Act (H.R. 718) and the CLEAN-UP Act (H.R. 834).
Please do not sponsor these bills. If you are already a co-sponsor, I urge you to withdraw.
Both bills would allow the federal government to punish people for the crimes of others, and both would
stifle free speech and musical expression. They also give too much power and discretion to prosecutors,
who may use them to target events they personally don't like - such as Hip Hop concerts and gay and lesbian fundraisers.
While most of the CLEAN-UP Act is unobjectionable (mainly providing new money and training
for the safe clean up of illegal methamphetamine laboratories), Section 305 needs to be removed.
If enacted, Section 305 would make it a federal crime - punishable by up to nine years in prison -
to promote "any rave, dance, music, or other entertainment event, that takes place under circumstances
where the promoter knows or reasonably ought to know that a controlled substance will be used or distributed.
" Since any reasonable person would know that music concerts - whether rock, country, or rap -attract some
people who want to use or sell drugs, this provision makes criminals out of every concert promoter, nightclub
owner, and stadium or arena owner.
Similarly, the RAVE Act makes it easier for the federal government to punish property owners for any drug offense
that their customers commit - even if they work hard to stop such offenses. It would also make it easier for the
federal government to punish property owners for instituting public safety measures at their events, such as training
their staff in first-aid. Disturbingly, the RAVE Act enacts new civil provisions that - like civil asset forfeiture laws -
allow the government to punish property owners without having to meet a standard of proof high enough to protect innocent owners.
Both the CLEAN-UP Act and the RAVE Act go too far. Neither offers protections for free speech and innocent business owners.
Neither will be enforced equally. Given the threat of terrorism, war in Iraq, and a bad economy, Congress simply can't afford to
deal with these misguided bills. I strongly urge you to oppose them in their current form.
posted by projectpeace @
9:59 PM
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Tuesday, April 01, 2003 |
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