It ain't over till it's over.

[Limewillis]

An article written by Chris Simunek. Excerpt taken from high times, December issues of 2009, #407- page 114.

"We should stop using the metaphor about the War on Drugs. People look at is as a war on them, and frankly, we're not at war with the people of this country."
-Gil Kerlikowske, head of the Office of National Drug Control policy, June 2009.

(Otherwise known as the drug czar.)

There seems to be a lot of optimism in the air regarding an imminent softening of cannabis laws by the nascent Obama administration. We hope that the above statement by the new Drug Czar represents a change in policy rather than a simple shift in rhetoric. But in the same speech that provided the above quote, Kerlikowske ruled out legalization. So what exactly can we expect in regarding reform? Your guess is as good as mine.
Without a doubt, the war is still going on right at this very minute. And here are a few recent cases that we, the anti-prohibitionists, should be conscious of before we start picking out what outfits we're going to wear to the big victory parade. All have occurred on Obama's watch.
There are the high-profile federal cases in California, such as Eddy Lepp, who was sentenced in May to 10 years for growing pot in Lake county for medical and religious purposes, and Charles Lynch, who, while avoiding the fire-year mandatory minimum the Feds wanted to give him for running a medical dispensary in Morro, was still sentenced to a year in federal prison in June.

Another case that didn't grab to many headlines is the sentencing of Andrew N. Cox, a Georgia native, to life without parole in Gainesville, FL, last March. Cox was convicted twice before on trafficking marijuana. Remember "three strikes, you're out"? Well, Cox is now as out as out can be. He was using a landscaping business as a cover for his operating, and when the cops caught up with him, he had 724 seedlings getting started on a property owned by his father and another 594 plants in grow spots in Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia.When he was indicted back in January of 2005, he fled. For three years, he remained a fugitive until the Feds tracked him down in Flordida. At his sentencing, US attorney David E. Namais had this to say:

"The defendant was a twice-convicted drug trafficker who has now received his third and final strike. His life sentence is just punishment for a career in the illegal drug trade, which most recently led him to exploit and degrade national forest land. He will have no more chances to poison our communities with illegal drugs, and his sentence should send a message that out national forests are not a safe haven for crime. The U.S Forest Service is to be commended for its hard work in this difficult prosecution, made even more challenging by the passage of time while this defendant was a fugitive."
Nahmia's anger toward Andrew Cox seems to come not from the fact that he grew weed, but because he "exploited and degraded" our national park land. I wonder if the former owners, the Creek and Cherokee Indians, sleep any better now that they know the land robed from them is being so well protected by the Feds.

Last May, a 22-year-old man named Tracy Howard was sentenced to 20 years in the Texas Department of corrections--the maximum sentence allowed--after he was caught with 50 pounds. Howard did not go to a trial; instead, he pled guilty and threw himself on the mercy of the court.
Commenting on the sentence, District Attorney David Sheffield noted that "a strong message is being sent about drug crimes in Hardin County." I like to imagine that after Sheffield made this announcement, he tipped his cowboy hat to the assembled crowd and snarled, "Don't mess with Texas, Y`all."

The last case I want to bring to your attention concerns a man who is no stranger to judicial gang rape. You mighty be familiar with Will Foster, the man from Tulas, OK, who was sentenced to 93 years for growing pot back in 1993. If not, his case went as follows: Foster, then a 36-year-old computer programmer with three kids, had a 25-square-foot garden in which he grew the marijuana that he used to ease the chronic pain of his rheumatoid arthrisits. The cops came to his door with a warrant, based on a tip from an anonymous informant, to search for methamphetamines, whish the did not find.
They did, however, locate the garden in a locked basement. Convinced that the warrent was bad, Foster refused a plea deal. Despite no evidence that he sold any of the marijuana, a jury convicted him of cultivation with the intent to distribute, and he was sentenced--in part because he had an 11-year-old daughter on the premises--to 93 years.
On appeal, a jury found that the verdict "shocks out conscience" and reduced the term to 20 years. Foster was released in 2001 on the condition that he serve out his parole in another state. Soon after, he relocated to California.
In California Foster completed three years of parole, however, Oklahoma said that this was not long enough and have continuously issued warrants in efforts to get him back to finish out six years of of parole there. Foster has fought extradition before, due to Oklahoma warrants, and won by writ of habeas corpus.

Foster lived in Santa Rosa with his daughter, now a college student, There he grew a small medical garden under the guidelines of Proposition 215. A jealous ex dropped a dime on him when the DEA raided his house, they found the garden and small amounts of ecstasy and methamphetamine that he claimed were not his and he knew nothing about. Foster's girlfriend, who was present with her young daughter, refuted to give up other growers they said she knew. The state arrested and charged her the same as Foster and placed her daughter in Child Protective Services custody. After many months and several court appearances the local DA dropped charges against foster and his girlfriend.
However, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a warrant from Oklahoma demanding Foster be returned to that state to serve out the rest of his 20-year sentence on a parole violations--the parole that he complete to California's satisfaction, but not to Oklahoma's.
Foster has been in jail in California since April 13, 2008, fighting extradition with another writ of habeas corpus.
Will foster lost his family over the three years, us life has been all but destroyed, and today he sits in jail in California because of a five-by-five foot marijuana garden that the cops found him with 14 years ago. If you think the war is over, guess again.

I hope you all enjoy this, it is possibly one of my favorite articles from high times, to date. Plus it was a bitch to write.

[ngust]

This is a good piece. There is a lot of talk about legalization right around the corner. It is all speculation. The federal government's job is to maintain the staus quo and they are really fucking good at it. We have had some successes but this war is far from over. The anti-prohibition movement is gaining momentum like crazy but we are extremely out numbered. There are many groups lobbying to keep marijuana illegal and we have very few. It all comes down to money. The various corporations that want pot illegal have a tons of money and groups like NORML and MPP don't.

How many people like Foster have had their lives destroyed by this unjust war on the citizens? Something is very very wrong when growing a plant gets you more prison time than rape.

I hope we do win this war but we have a long way to go. It took everyone to reverse alcohol prohibition and the drug war is much more engrained in our society. It is going to take every single citizen to bring this change.

[PitchBlack696]

haha now that pretty much atleast half the country smokes, they dont wanna call it war on drugs anymore. sounds too much like a war against its people, which it is.

and now im wondering, how are things concerning bud in texas? i might move there in a few years.

[morefreedom]

Fuck those hypocrites wanting to keep dangerous alcohol and cigarettes legal while keeping marajuna illegal and ruining peoples lives. It sounds like common sense to legalize it to me, but I guess a lot of people don't have common sense theese days .

[Limewillis]

Originally Posted by ngust

This is a good piece. There is a lot of talk about legalization right around the corner. It is all speculation. The federal government's job is to maintain the staus quo and they are really fucking good at it. We have had some successes but this war is far from over. The anti-prohibition movement is gaining momentum like crazy but we are extremely out numbered. There are many groups lobbying to keep marijuana illegal and we have very few. It all comes down to money. The various corporations that want pot illegal have a tons of money and groups like NORML and MPP don't.

How many people like Foster have had their lives destroyed by this unjust war on the citizens? Something is very very wrong when growing a plant gets you more prison time than rape.

I hope we do win this war but we have a long way to go. It took everyone to reverse alcohol prohibition and the drug war is much more engrained in our society. It is going to take every single citizen to bring this change.

Well, the main issue we face in my opinion is misinformation...
Ask your non pot head friends about weed and legalization, and you'll find the majority are terribly ignorant to the truth.

The lies, the propaganda, the middle school brainwashing.
"if you buy marijuana, you're supporting terrorism."
"if you smoke weed, you'll be doing heroin 10 years later"
"if you smoke pot, you automatically become a criminal."

At no time have I ever heard a single dealer say "dude! this weed came from the middle east!"

I've been smoking since I was 15, almost 9 years now, at no time have I ever wanted to "climb the stairs of shame" into harder drugs.

The only reason I'm a criminal, is because men who think they know better, have made me a criminal.



From a young age we're told that drugs are bad, and weed is the worst...its the gateway of gateways, the entrance to a life of disparage, the path to nothing but a gutter and loneliness.
If weed has done anything for me, its made me more relaxed, raised me from depression, allowed me to have the self confidence to do things I would've never fathomed (I'm talking things like bungee jumping, it was wild )

Oh yeah, mary jane had done a lot of things, many of which you'll never hear of.

Right now I'm battling stomach cancer, cannabis is the only thing that is stopping me from literally wasting, it allows me to eat, to sleep...I could be in a hole ready to die but I'm still out there, active- trying new things and meeting new people.

No fucker in a nice suit is going to tell me what I can and cant do.

Refer to the siggy.