US Attorney General Eric Holder said on Wednesday that the Justice Department will not raid medical marijuana dispensaries in states where they are legal under state law anymore. It is one of President Obama’s campaign promises. It also is the end of 13 years of federal resistance to state medical marijuana programs. The DEA still raided medical marijuana facilities in California even after Obama was elected and even after the inauguration. But Holder told a reporter that they will stop now. He said, “What the president said during the campaign, you'll be surprised to know, will be consistent with what we'll be doing in law enforcement. He was my boss during the campaign. He is formally and technically and by law my boss now. What he said during the campaign is now American policy." You can watch a video of it if you want here: <link>
Almost 75 million Americans live in the 13 states that medical marijuana is legal to use. In California the DEA has raided many of the facilities, even though it is legal in the state for medical marijuana to be grown. Many of the people are now being prosecuted, are being sentenced, or are already in prison not because of the raids.
A patient that uses medical marijuana and director of ASA (link), Steph Sherer, said that there has been “a lot of damage in the federal campaign against medical marijuana patients.” They also said,“ We need to stop the prosecutions, bring the prisoners home, and begin working to eliminate the conflict between state and federal medical marijuana laws.”
The ASA had a press conference on Thursday and Sherer explained, "Today is a victory and a huge step forward in what has been at times a cruel and tragic period. My outrage over the raids was shared by millions of Americans, and now our collective voice has been heard in Washington. We look forward to working with the Obama administration to harmonize the conflicts with state laws once and for all."
One person, Larry Epstein, who owned a dispenser that was raided got all of her property and plants taken, and her bank account was frozen; she can’t pay her taxes now. She said she had hundreds of patients who relied on her facility to get their median.
Another person named Heather Poet said that the Justice Department pressured her landlord to evict her. They told her landlord that if he didn’t evict them that they would begin forfeiture proceedings against his property for the “illegal use of his property”( they were operating legally by the way). But she got in contact with Rep. Capps and within a week they worked on a letter with ASA. They didn’t get charged for anything it seems.
Another person who worked a legal dispensary named Charles C. Lynch was convicted on a federal distribution of marijuana charge. He was one of the last people of this type to be charged and faces a mandatory 5 year minimum sentence. Lynch explains, “"I became a medical marijuana patient in 2005 and decided we needed a dispensary here in the San Luis Obispo area so patients didn't have to drive 90 miles to Santa Barbara. Before I opened the dispensary, I called the DEA and asked them their policy. They told me it was up to the cities and towns, so I got a business license from the city of Morro Bay, and opened up on April 1, 2006. The mayor, the city attorney, and council members all came by to visit the facility. We even joined the Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce. I did everything I thought was necessary to run a legitimate business. In March 2007, they raided me, took all my money and froze my bank account. They made it sound like I was selling drugs to children in the schoolyard. The city of Morro Bay reissued my business license -- the DEA had stolen it, too -- and I reopened for business. Two weeks later, the DEA threatened my landlord with forfeiture unless he evicted us for good, so on March 16, 2007, the dispensary closed for good. On July 17, 2007, I woke up to federal agents banging down my door with an arrest warrant for federal marijuana distribution charges," Lynch related. "I had a spotless record, but I had to post a $400,000 bond to get out of federal detention. The DEA and the sheriff did everything in their power to defame me, destroy me, and destroy my life. Now, I have been found guilty on five counts of distribution and await sentencing. I'm filing for bankruptcy, my friends are scared to talk to me because the feds are breathing down my neck. They've destroyed my life.”
I guess now the people who make legal medical marijuana can take a sigh of relief. It seems like they don’t have to worry so much now.
My Opinion:
Although I don’t know much on this subject, I think that it is a good thing honestly. I don’t think that marijuana is bad if you are using it for medical purpose and if you are not abusing it. It is better than some things people can do to help themselves, I guess. I don’t think that it is any worse then smoking a cigarette, although I don’t think that cigarettes can make you loopy like marijuana can. But if you are sick and feeling awful being loopy isn’t a real bad thing I would suppose.
<link>
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Coffin’s Arrival & Procession From War Issue
Officials from the Pentagon are reconsidering a ban that doesn’t let the media cover coffins arriving at the Dover Air Force Base( it has been in place since 1991). President Obama ordered the review on February 9th. The officials are looking at how Britain and Canada let the media cover their soldiers arrival ceremonies. It seems that Britain and Canada let the media have much more access to the return of soldiers than the U.S. does. Officials are also asking the families who have lost loved ones in the war their opinion. Many of the families do not want the ban lifted. They say that it protects the families privacy and some do not want their family members death publicized. Others say that the government is trying to make the deaths not look as bad as they really are by not letting the media cover them.
Quite a few years ago, in 2003 a poll was taken about this issue by The New York Times. 1,042 people took this pool and out of those 62% said that they should be allowed to see the coffins at Dover, 27% did not like the idea.
FUOTTM, which represents 60,000 families who have military family members are against lifting the ban. They have sent an e-mail to members to see if they are in favor of the ban or want to change it. About 600 replied, the results are as follows: 64% say the ban should not change, 21% said it should be changed, but the family should say if media can or can not cover it, and 12% said that it should be changed to let cameras in.
A mother who is does not want the lift of the ban to happen said that …“This was our precious son, not a political statement.” Another mother who is for lifting the ban said…”I feel people need to be made aware of the sacrifice my son and so many other brave men and women have made for their freedom.” Bunt many military families think that it needs to stay as closed ceremonies.
The Britain Defense Ministry takes pictures of the arrivals of the ceremonies at an air base in Lyneham and lets the media have those pictures to use. Reporters are allowed at points but they have to keep away from the families. Public gets to see the pictures in either form.
In Canada they have a road along Highway 401 called the Highway of Heroes that a procession travels down taking the soldier to a morgue. Many people go to the highway and pay their respects to the soldier. In Britain there is a similar event that takes place. The procession goes from Lyneham to a mortuary in Oxford. The procession goes through a town called Wootton Bassett. People stand in the streets of that town silent, in tribute as the procession passes. At Dover ,in the U.S., the processions do not happen in the eye of the public, the mortuary is on the airbase so there is really no way for a public procession. Some families allow news coverage of the funeral.
In 2006 Canada put a stop to the news showing the arrival ceremonies of the coffins, but a month later it was reversed and the families got to decide if they wanted it to be shown or not; the would family has to agree or it was not shown.
My Opinion:
I think that it should be entirely up to the family if the media can show it or not. I think that some families just should have their privacy, while others might need it to be covered. It might make some families feel better to know that people know their loved one’s story and experience the procession with them.
Link
Quite a few years ago, in 2003 a poll was taken about this issue by The New York Times. 1,042 people took this pool and out of those 62% said that they should be allowed to see the coffins at Dover, 27% did not like the idea.
FUOTTM, which represents 60,000 families who have military family members are against lifting the ban. They have sent an e-mail to members to see if they are in favor of the ban or want to change it. About 600 replied, the results are as follows: 64% say the ban should not change, 21% said it should be changed, but the family should say if media can or can not cover it, and 12% said that it should be changed to let cameras in.
A mother who is does not want the lift of the ban to happen said that …“This was our precious son, not a political statement.” Another mother who is for lifting the ban said…”I feel people need to be made aware of the sacrifice my son and so many other brave men and women have made for their freedom.” Bunt many military families think that it needs to stay as closed ceremonies.
The Britain Defense Ministry takes pictures of the arrivals of the ceremonies at an air base in Lyneham and lets the media have those pictures to use. Reporters are allowed at points but they have to keep away from the families. Public gets to see the pictures in either form.
In Canada they have a road along Highway 401 called the Highway of Heroes that a procession travels down taking the soldier to a morgue. Many people go to the highway and pay their respects to the soldier. In Britain there is a similar event that takes place. The procession goes from Lyneham to a mortuary in Oxford. The procession goes through a town called Wootton Bassett. People stand in the streets of that town silent, in tribute as the procession passes. At Dover ,in the U.S., the processions do not happen in the eye of the public, the mortuary is on the airbase so there is really no way for a public procession. Some families allow news coverage of the funeral.
In 2006 Canada put a stop to the news showing the arrival ceremonies of the coffins, but a month later it was reversed and the families got to decide if they wanted it to be shown or not; the would family has to agree or it was not shown.
My Opinion:
I think that it should be entirely up to the family if the media can show it or not. I think that some families just should have their privacy, while others might need it to be covered. It might make some families feel better to know that people know their loved one’s story and experience the procession with them.
Link
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Killing Stirs Racial Unease in Texas
In Paris, Texas a man named Brandon McClelland was killed by two of his friends after an argument. They had been drinking that night and ran him over with a pickup truck. McClelland was a black man and the guys that killed him were white men, it is for this reason that the black and white races of this town are having issues with each other.
On September 16,2008 McClelland was run over and dragged about 40 feet by the pickup. The two guys left the scene , went to McClelland’s house and told her that they left him on the side of the road to walk home. They had lied of course and police found body tissue that matched McClelland’s on the bottom of the car. The two men are now waiting to be tried on murder charges.
It turns out that this isn’t one of the men’s first killings either, Mr. Finley was charged for manslaughter in 2003, he had shot one of his friends(who was white) in the head three times while in a pickup. He said that he was trying to shoot two armed robbers and shot his friend instead. He served a year in prison. McClellan had lied to a grand jury in Finley’s trial about where he was the night of the shooting,. McClellan served more than a year for doing that. The police think that because the two had already been through that with each other, that the killing most like was something other than race.
McClellan’s mom thought the investigation wasn’t investigated as well as it could have been. If it wasn’t for civil rights advocates protests the case might of never went to court.
There was another event that led to protest a year earlier, a 14 year old black girl was sentenced to juvenile prison for just shoving a hall monitor, but a white girl who had burned her house down only got put on probation a few months earlier. Protestors said that it was unequal and harsh treatment. The judge said that it wasn’t harsh, that the girl had had previous disciplinary problems. Her mom said that the school had been treating black and white students differently. But officials said that everyone in that town are close to each other “a good-old-boy” system.
The mayor of the town says that there is a “lack of communication ,”and if they start communicating the problems will shrink.
Black people are complaining that the town’s justice system is doing them wrong, white people on the other hand are complaining that there is to much crime and drugs in the neighborhoods. The found of a racial equality group says that that town is stuck in the past at the moment.
It has gotten so bad that the Department of Justice sent a team down to mediate and talk about problems/solution s. 100 people of different races went to a fair ground to complain about the situation. The federal mediators took note and tired to keep the piece. Just a short statistic: there are 26,000 people living there at the moment and about 5,700 of them are black.
Here is my Opinion:
I don’t really think the situation between McClellan was race related, it seemed that they had been through a lot of bad things together and most likely McClellan knew something about Finley, so Finley killed him. This is just my opinion though, I mean he killed a friend before…he could easily do it again. But I do think that the town of Paris does have some racial problems, even if it isn’t the government of the town who has the problems( I really don’t know if they do or not….they do seem to be giving some people the short end of the stick), it seems like the people have some deep seeded issues with each other that need to be smoothed down. If people can’t get out of the past how will the future of the town ever improve? I also want to say that I have never experienced any kind of harassment of any sort so I can’t say that I know how it would feel to be judged, my words in this are just the way I try to say how I am thinking without offending anyone.
link
On September 16,2008 McClelland was run over and dragged about 40 feet by the pickup. The two guys left the scene , went to McClelland’s house and told her that they left him on the side of the road to walk home. They had lied of course and police found body tissue that matched McClelland’s on the bottom of the car. The two men are now waiting to be tried on murder charges.
It turns out that this isn’t one of the men’s first killings either, Mr. Finley was charged for manslaughter in 2003, he had shot one of his friends(who was white) in the head three times while in a pickup. He said that he was trying to shoot two armed robbers and shot his friend instead. He served a year in prison. McClellan had lied to a grand jury in Finley’s trial about where he was the night of the shooting,. McClellan served more than a year for doing that. The police think that because the two had already been through that with each other, that the killing most like was something other than race.
McClellan’s mom thought the investigation wasn’t investigated as well as it could have been. If it wasn’t for civil rights advocates protests the case might of never went to court.
There was another event that led to protest a year earlier, a 14 year old black girl was sentenced to juvenile prison for just shoving a hall monitor, but a white girl who had burned her house down only got put on probation a few months earlier. Protestors said that it was unequal and harsh treatment. The judge said that it wasn’t harsh, that the girl had had previous disciplinary problems. Her mom said that the school had been treating black and white students differently. But officials said that everyone in that town are close to each other “a good-old-boy” system.
The mayor of the town says that there is a “lack of communication ,”and if they start communicating the problems will shrink.
Black people are complaining that the town’s justice system is doing them wrong, white people on the other hand are complaining that there is to much crime and drugs in the neighborhoods. The found of a racial equality group says that that town is stuck in the past at the moment.
It has gotten so bad that the Department of Justice sent a team down to mediate and talk about problems/solution s. 100 people of different races went to a fair ground to complain about the situation. The federal mediators took note and tired to keep the piece. Just a short statistic: there are 26,000 people living there at the moment and about 5,700 of them are black.
Here is my Opinion:
I don’t really think the situation between McClellan was race related, it seemed that they had been through a lot of bad things together and most likely McClellan knew something about Finley, so Finley killed him. This is just my opinion though, I mean he killed a friend before…he could easily do it again. But I do think that the town of Paris does have some racial problems, even if it isn’t the government of the town who has the problems( I really don’t know if they do or not….they do seem to be giving some people the short end of the stick), it seems like the people have some deep seeded issues with each other that need to be smoothed down. If people can’t get out of the past how will the future of the town ever improve? I also want to say that I have never experienced any kind of harassment of any sort so I can’t say that I know how it would feel to be judged, my words in this are just the way I try to say how I am thinking without offending anyone.
link
Friday, February 6, 2009
Proposition 8 Hearings
The Supreme Court of California will hear arguments in March about Proposition 8, a California Ballot Proposition that changed it’s constitution’s definition of marriage to only heterosexual couples, thereby throwing out all same sex marriages. The argument is about if the proposition is constitutional or not. Proposition 8 passed 52 % to 48 % in May of 2008, overriding the ruling of the In re Marriage case, the case stated that, “ marriage is a fundamental right under Article 1, Section 7 of the California Constitution. It also established that any law that discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation is “constitutionally suspect.”
The New York Times said that the Supreme Court will be considering the legality of almost 18,000 same sex marriages before the proposition was voted on. They will also question if same sex couples have been denied equal protection under the state’s constitution.
Quite a few amicus briefs have been held about the case. Some Women Rights Groups are arguing that if Proposition 8 goes into effect it will not only effect the rights of homosexual couples but also the rights women such as, the rights to bears a child, employment discrimination, and sexual privacy. There are 43 amicus groups arguing that Proposition 8 should be overturned and 20 groups from religious and legal groups according to Los Angeles Times.
My opinion of this situation is “to each their own.” I believe that as long as it is not harmful; people need to live their lives in the way that will make them happy. I believe that this is a violation of the Constitution of California because it states in Article 1, Section 7 that, “A person may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law or denied equal protection of the laws….” How would you like it if someone was to question your marriage? Even bigger, how would you feel if your government make it official that a marriage between you and the love of your life was not valid? I know I would feel totally alienated. California really needs to mull this over, it would effect so many people in such a negative way. Plus, in what way will it hurting people to make same sex marriage “legal?” Look, I am religious, believe it or not, and I think it is “unchristian” to judge people, for the way they live their lives ( again I’m going to include: As long as that life style is not harmful to themselves or others).
Sorry for making this kind of long, I didn’t mean to get long winded. I also want to add that I had to go to http://www.wikipedia.com/ to look up what exactly Proposition 8 was, the article I read wasn’t very long and didn’t explain everything. The last thing I want to say is: I really don’t care about the option anyone would have of Me being accepting of people for who they are, but I do care about people voicing a negative opinion about the people they are judging, so if you do have a comment make sure it is not offensive or I will delete it. Sorry if I come off as a mean person...
-_-”
link just in cse the one in the title doesn’t work
The New York Times said that the Supreme Court will be considering the legality of almost 18,000 same sex marriages before the proposition was voted on. They will also question if same sex couples have been denied equal protection under the state’s constitution.
Quite a few amicus briefs have been held about the case. Some Women Rights Groups are arguing that if Proposition 8 goes into effect it will not only effect the rights of homosexual couples but also the rights women such as, the rights to bears a child, employment discrimination, and sexual privacy. There are 43 amicus groups arguing that Proposition 8 should be overturned and 20 groups from religious and legal groups according to Los Angeles Times.
My opinion of this situation is “to each their own.” I believe that as long as it is not harmful; people need to live their lives in the way that will make them happy. I believe that this is a violation of the Constitution of California because it states in Article 1, Section 7 that, “A person may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law or denied equal protection of the laws….” How would you like it if someone was to question your marriage? Even bigger, how would you feel if your government make it official that a marriage between you and the love of your life was not valid? I know I would feel totally alienated. California really needs to mull this over, it would effect so many people in such a negative way. Plus, in what way will it hurting people to make same sex marriage “legal?” Look, I am religious, believe it or not, and I think it is “unchristian” to judge people, for the way they live their lives ( again I’m going to include: As long as that life style is not harmful to themselves or others).
Sorry for making this kind of long, I didn’t mean to get long winded. I also want to add that I had to go to http://www.wikipedia.com/ to look up what exactly Proposition 8 was, the article I read wasn’t very long and didn’t explain everything. The last thing I want to say is: I really don’t care about the option anyone would have of Me being accepting of people for who they are, but I do care about people voicing a negative opinion about the people they are judging, so if you do have a comment make sure it is not offensive or I will delete it. Sorry if I come off as a mean person...
-_-”
link just in cse the one in the title doesn’t work
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