Love it when the government and media start
quoting things I have been saying for ages.
Well it may not be exactly quoting, but they have started saying things
I have been saying for a number of years.
Typing in the word drugs or prison on the search bar of my blog will
bring up a number of articles I have written over the last three years saying
exactly what the media is now saying.
Well I guess not exactly because I advocate fixing the problem.
Before quoting the media I would
like to quote God and the Declaration of Independence on the matter. First here is what God had to say in Genesis
1:29-31,
“29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which
is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of
a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30And to every beast of the earth, and to
every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein
there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31And God saw everything that he had
made, and, behold, it was very good.”
I am pretty certain God knew all the possible uses of the plants he
created. Notice that the issues of
manmade concoctions like alcohol and wine were not even addressed. They are also both made from seed bearing
plants. Proverbs 31:6-9 gives the purpose of alcohol. It does not ban it.
Notice God did not make any exceptions.
God also said it was very good.
So is our government banning that which was part of the act of
creation. Are we arguing with God? So much for being a Christian nation. The Declaration of Independence makes clear
we are endowed by Our Creator with certain rights. It seems to me if God said it was okay that
would make it a right. Two of our
Founding Fathers and ex-presidents grew hemp on their farms, (Washington and
Jefferson) so I doubt they considered it illegal.
America’s first drug laws were not designed to make drugs illegal unless
they fit in the category of snake oil.
Snake oils were concoctions created mainly to relieve people of their
money and had no or very little medicinal quality at all. Once Satan got his foot in the door with one
law he had a field day. Based on what my
Grandfather told me. Pot was made
illegal in the 1930’s because at the end of prohibition alcohol companies were
not getting their business back. They
lobbied to eliminate the competition from pot which according to my grandfather
became very popular during prohibition.
My grandfather also told me that during World War I he drove a mule team
and hauled rope to the front lines and that the dough boys consumed great quantities
of the hemp rope he hauled. Who is going
to argue with their grandfather?
Especially since he was there and saw it and lived it firsthand.
Recent statements by Attorney General Holder
show that the writing is on the wall for drug enforcement. Pot needs to be reclassified and made at the
same level as alcohol. It needs to be
removed from the Controlled Substance List entirely. His recent quotes on NBC
made clear the present drug laws are not working. Holder said,
“It's clear - as we come together today - that too many Americans go to
too many prisons for far too long, and for no truly good law enforcement
reason. It's clear, at a basic level, that 20th-century criminal justice
solutions are not adequate to overcome our 21st-century challenges,” Holder
told the annual meeting of the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates in
San Francisco. “And it is well past time to implement common sense changes that
will foster safer communities from coast to coast.”
“This means that federal prosecutors cannot - and should not - bring
every case or charge every defendant who stands accused of violating federal
law,” he said. “Some issues are best handled at the state or local level.”
NBC also said, “Holder argued the policy shift reflected a “pragmatic”
approach that he and President Barack Obama is needed in its enforcement of
drug laws. He said that the widespread incarceration that results from
mandatory minimum sentencing cost the U.S. $80 billion in 2010 alone.
Holder’s goal is not to fix the problem but pass it on to the
states. Arguing they should enforce
Federal laws. The present mood and trend
in the states is making clear that is not going to happen. With twenty states having Medical Marijuana
laws and two states having legalized the use of Marijuana completely the tide
is turning against Federal incompetence.
Four states have legislation pending and twelve states have voted on
legalization. While they may have defeated
legalization temporarily the issue may be bought up again. If all those states passed the bill they
would only be one state away from having enough to make an amendment and
actually fix the problem with America’s drug laws.
In 1970 President Nixon ordered a review of drug laws and amendments
under Part F of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. The Commissioner for the study Raymond P.
Shafer stated,
“The criminal law is too harsh a tool to apply to personal possession
even in the effort to discourage use. It implies an overwhelming indictment of
the behavior which we believe is not appropriate. The actual and potential harm
of use of the drug is not great enough to justify intrusion by the criminal law
into private behavior, a step which our society takes only with the greatest
reluctance.”
If that was the conclusion of the study how did we get to where we are
at today? Everything that has been done
seems to go against the common sense decision made by that Commission.
The recent program on CNN by Dr. Sanjay Gupta says we might want to
review our whole drug law program.
Holder’s view of shifting responsibility is not the answer. The answer is in reviewing the entire law and
changing it to do what it was originally designed to do. Not to ban drugs, but to get rid of snake
oils and the ones who provided them.
Once the laws are changed the government stands to gain a lot of
ground. Jobs would be created in
manufacturing/growing, licensing, taxing, administering, not to mention the
spin off industries like bio fuels, rope, materials and paper for a few. These jobs are badly needed and is time for
the government to get off its collective A__ and do something to fix the
problem.
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