The following was submitted by my new friend in California, he's quite the activist and has the patient's in mind all the time...
THANKS DC!!!
THE SOFT UNDERBELLY OF THE BEAST
Dcgreenhouse (Dustin Costa, founder, WEEDSTOCK NATIONS ©)
There remains a very serious public Policy problem with respect to medical Cannabis, Civil Rights and Law enforcement. While SB420 attempts to mandate public acceptance of Medical Cannabis, it falls short and lacks the clarity that was hoped it would bring. There remains an intractable, pervasive intolerance of the medical Cannabis community by law enforcement and many local Governments throughout the State.
According to Canorml, there are more than 100,000 medical Cannabis patients in California. We have no way of knowing an exact number, but know this, there are thousands of Medical Cannabis patients in California who have been harassed in one form or another by law enforcement, causing inconvenience at a minimum, and devastating lives, families, savings, and even in some cases resulting in Prison time. Who are these tormentors, and why are they being such jerks? What is being done to fix it? For five thousand years of recorded history, Cannabis has found medicinal and spiritual application across many cultures and countries, including the USA.
Suddenly, with little warning and no testing, Cannabis (as well as Hemp) was pronounced illegal, and was proclaimed by the Government to have no medical value whatsoever. The year was 1937, for 67 years since, and despite a growing Mountain of evidence to support its’ medicinal value, the Government Mantra has not changed, the DEA still claims Pot to have no Medical value. In the end, their motivation may be as simple as keeping a fat Government Bureaucracy in place, and local law enforcement agencies well supplied with cash.
The Justification for these wasted tax dollars is public belief that the War on Drugs is essential to a healthy America. An incredible piece of Bullshit called “Drug Education” ginned up to justify big law enforcement budgets with no civilian oversight resulting in (surprise, surprise) a chronic abuse of power by those we have given too much power. Of course, now they don’t want to give it back. Give someone a Badge, a Gun, the power of Propaganda combined with confused Humanitarian purpose and poor vision, and you get things like Civil rights in the 60s, Viet-Nam, Iraq, Palestine, or even a Stalin or a Hitler or a Pol Pot or a Mao Tse Tung. And a modern American Gulag, fueled by the War on Drugs.
This is what the Medical Cannabis patient and/or Caregiver sees. Ignorant Government, Ignorant Cops, Ignorant Business Leaders, Ignorant Teachers, Ignorant Social Service and Child Protective Services, Ignorance even from family, friends and neighbors, and worst of all, ignorance from Public Defenders and even, from time to time, our best legal “Eagles”. A Medical Cannabis patient is faced with an array of ignorance and attitudes from every corner of their social and cultural web. It threatens our lives daily, this ignorance. It baffles us.
How is it that a drug like Cannabis that has killed no one, as opposed to Modern American medicine, which kills approximately 500,000 innocent, trusting patients each year, or tobacco, which kills approximately 300,000 persons a year, and even secondhand smoke from tobacco is known to kill, or alcohol, which kills nearly 100,000 per year, or prescription drugs, or even aspirin, which kills 30 people per year.
Cannabis is known to be an effective medication or remedy for more than two hundred serious health problems. It has improved the lives of millions, and taken the lives of none. Those are the irrefutable, undeniable, and embarrassing facts that need to shown, taught and understood to and by the ignorant among us. Information, education, reformation. Where to start?
Treat ignorance like a disease, with information and education being the cure. Truth will triumph only after we wipe out the propaganda machine, and replace “official lies” with actual truth. The truth is light, and a light shining in the dark will send the demons of ignorance scurrying for cover. The Truth is the soft underbelly of the Beast. We must shout the truth from every forum, and to all who would listen.
The true believers on the side of ignorance are few, but they are powerful. They will continue to use every cheap lie to continue the current Gulag, because there is no benefit to their job or career to do otherwise. In other words, in the end, we will find the cause of our current dilemma to be a fabricated cause.
Truth is the soft underbelly of this Beast. It protects its’ belly with propaganda and law enforcement. As our medical Cannabis heroes continue to fight and win in courts and political forums throughout the State, and as more and more patients gain confidence to speak out, we will pull the teeth of the Beast, one by one, with or without Novocain, at its’ pleasure. As this occurs, opportunities to inform, educate and reform will and in fact already have, presented themselves. In essence, we have to lay the Beast out to get to the Belly. It will take all of us to do it. They still have guns, and some have no reservation about using them. Remember, the
DEA has a $25,000 DEAD OR ALIVE Bounty Hunter reward, and the subject only has to be AN ALLEGED DRUG TRAFFICER. The DEA is mortal enemy to medical Cannabis.
One way to speed things along, perhaps, is to file suit against any Government Agency or Contractor that continues to teach there is no medical aspect to Cannabis. A proponent of this approach is Journalist Patrick McCartney, who is writing a book about law enforcement/215 abuses.He suggests suing the California Narcotics Officers Association for continuing to teach new law enforcement officers that there is no Medical use of Cannabis. A great idea, if we can find an attorney with the cajones and resources to do it. Other ways to get it done include speaking out at City Council and Boards of Supervisors meetings.
In sum, the war presently is being fought at the legal and activist level. We will know we have won when the message changes. Information, education and reformation. Once we change the message, the War will be over. It is that simple. Get active, do your part to help change the message. E-mail me at dcgreenhouse@sbcglobal,net; or call 209-357-2154.
Dcgreenhouse.
THANKS DC!!!
THE SOFT UNDERBELLY OF THE BEAST
Dcgreenhouse (Dustin Costa, founder, WEEDSTOCK NATIONS ©)
There remains a very serious public Policy problem with respect to medical Cannabis, Civil Rights and Law enforcement. While SB420 attempts to mandate public acceptance of Medical Cannabis, it falls short and lacks the clarity that was hoped it would bring. There remains an intractable, pervasive intolerance of the medical Cannabis community by law enforcement and many local Governments throughout the State.
According to Canorml, there are more than 100,000 medical Cannabis patients in California. We have no way of knowing an exact number, but know this, there are thousands of Medical Cannabis patients in California who have been harassed in one form or another by law enforcement, causing inconvenience at a minimum, and devastating lives, families, savings, and even in some cases resulting in Prison time. Who are these tormentors, and why are they being such jerks? What is being done to fix it? For five thousand years of recorded history, Cannabis has found medicinal and spiritual application across many cultures and countries, including the USA.
Suddenly, with little warning and no testing, Cannabis (as well as Hemp) was pronounced illegal, and was proclaimed by the Government to have no medical value whatsoever. The year was 1937, for 67 years since, and despite a growing Mountain of evidence to support its’ medicinal value, the Government Mantra has not changed, the DEA still claims Pot to have no Medical value. In the end, their motivation may be as simple as keeping a fat Government Bureaucracy in place, and local law enforcement agencies well supplied with cash.
The Justification for these wasted tax dollars is public belief that the War on Drugs is essential to a healthy America. An incredible piece of Bullshit called “Drug Education” ginned up to justify big law enforcement budgets with no civilian oversight resulting in (surprise, surprise) a chronic abuse of power by those we have given too much power. Of course, now they don’t want to give it back. Give someone a Badge, a Gun, the power of Propaganda combined with confused Humanitarian purpose and poor vision, and you get things like Civil rights in the 60s, Viet-Nam, Iraq, Palestine, or even a Stalin or a Hitler or a Pol Pot or a Mao Tse Tung. And a modern American Gulag, fueled by the War on Drugs.
This is what the Medical Cannabis patient and/or Caregiver sees. Ignorant Government, Ignorant Cops, Ignorant Business Leaders, Ignorant Teachers, Ignorant Social Service and Child Protective Services, Ignorance even from family, friends and neighbors, and worst of all, ignorance from Public Defenders and even, from time to time, our best legal “Eagles”. A Medical Cannabis patient is faced with an array of ignorance and attitudes from every corner of their social and cultural web. It threatens our lives daily, this ignorance. It baffles us.
How is it that a drug like Cannabis that has killed no one, as opposed to Modern American medicine, which kills approximately 500,000 innocent, trusting patients each year, or tobacco, which kills approximately 300,000 persons a year, and even secondhand smoke from tobacco is known to kill, or alcohol, which kills nearly 100,000 per year, or prescription drugs, or even aspirin, which kills 30 people per year.
Cannabis is known to be an effective medication or remedy for more than two hundred serious health problems. It has improved the lives of millions, and taken the lives of none. Those are the irrefutable, undeniable, and embarrassing facts that need to shown, taught and understood to and by the ignorant among us. Information, education, reformation. Where to start?
Treat ignorance like a disease, with information and education being the cure. Truth will triumph only after we wipe out the propaganda machine, and replace “official lies” with actual truth. The truth is light, and a light shining in the dark will send the demons of ignorance scurrying for cover. The Truth is the soft underbelly of the Beast. We must shout the truth from every forum, and to all who would listen.
The true believers on the side of ignorance are few, but they are powerful. They will continue to use every cheap lie to continue the current Gulag, because there is no benefit to their job or career to do otherwise. In other words, in the end, we will find the cause of our current dilemma to be a fabricated cause.
Truth is the soft underbelly of this Beast. It protects its’ belly with propaganda and law enforcement. As our medical Cannabis heroes continue to fight and win in courts and political forums throughout the State, and as more and more patients gain confidence to speak out, we will pull the teeth of the Beast, one by one, with or without Novocain, at its’ pleasure. As this occurs, opportunities to inform, educate and reform will and in fact already have, presented themselves. In essence, we have to lay the Beast out to get to the Belly. It will take all of us to do it. They still have guns, and some have no reservation about using them. Remember, the
DEA has a $25,000 DEAD OR ALIVE Bounty Hunter reward, and the subject only has to be AN ALLEGED DRUG TRAFFICER. The DEA is mortal enemy to medical Cannabis.
One way to speed things along, perhaps, is to file suit against any Government Agency or Contractor that continues to teach there is no medical aspect to Cannabis. A proponent of this approach is Journalist Patrick McCartney, who is writing a book about law enforcement/215 abuses.He suggests suing the California Narcotics Officers Association for continuing to teach new law enforcement officers that there is no Medical use of Cannabis. A great idea, if we can find an attorney with the cajones and resources to do it. Other ways to get it done include speaking out at City Council and Boards of Supervisors meetings.
In sum, the war presently is being fought at the legal and activist level. We will know we have won when the message changes. Information, education and reformation. Once we change the message, the War will be over. It is that simple. Get active, do your part to help change the message. E-mail me at dcgreenhouse@sbcglobal,net; or call 209-357-2154.
Dcgreenhouse.