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White House Rejects Petition To Legalize Marijuana

10/31/2011 WASHINGTON -- The White House has rejected several marijuana legalization petitions, one of which called on the federal government to stop interfering with state marijuana legalization efforts. "As a former police chief, I recognize we are not going to arrest our way out of the problem," wrote Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, in a statement released late on Friday. "We also recognize that legalizing marijuana would not provide the answer to any of the health, social, youth education, criminal justice, and community quality of life challenges associated with drug use." The statement came in response to a petition submitted by retired Baltimore narcotics officer Neill Franklin as part of the White House's "We The People" project, an effort to allow ordinary Americans to gain the attention of policymakers through an online portal at the White House website. Any petition garnering 5,000 signatures within 30 days of submission is guaranteed a response from the White House; Franklin's petition received more than 17,000.

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"It's maddening that the administration wants to continue failed prohibition polices that do nothing to reduce drug use and succeed only in funneling billions of dollars into the pockets of the cartels and gangs that control the illegal market," said Franklin, who serves as executive director of advocacy group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, in a statement released Saturday. Franklin's petition comes as federal prosecutors have escalated enforcement actions against medical marijuana dispensary owners in California, vowing to shutter state-licensed businesses and threatening landlords with property seizures for violating federal drug laws. Franklin has also called on the president to remember his campaign promise not to waste government resources interfering with state-regulated marijuana dispensaries. The White House's rejection statement was directed at seven other marijuanarelated petitions, which together garnered more than 150,000 signatures. One such petition, which called for marijuana to be regulated in a manner similar to alcohol, received almost 75,000 signatures. "Like many, we are interested in the potential marijuana may have in providing relief to individuals diagnosed with certain serious illnesses," the White House wrote in its official response. "That is why we ardently support ongoing research into determining what components of the marijuana plant can be used as medicine. To date, however, neither the FDA nor the Institute of Medicine have found smoked marijuana to meet the modern standard for safe or effective medicine for any condition." When the President took office, he directed all of his policymakers to develop policies based on science and research, not ideology or politics. So our concern about marijuana is based on what the science tells us about the drug's effects. According to scientists at the National Institutes of Health -- the world's largest source of drug abuse research -- marijuana use is associated with addiction, respiratory disease, and cognitive impairment. We know from an array of treatment admission information and Federal data that marijuana use is a significant source for voluntary drug treatment admissions and visits to emergency rooms. Studies also reveal that marijuana potency has almost tripled over the past 20 years, raising serious concerns about what this means for public health - especially among young people who use the drug because research shows their brains continue to develop well into their 20's. Simply put, it is not a benign drug. Like many, we are interested in the potential marijuana may have in providing relief to individuals diagnosed with certain serious illnesses. That is why we ardently support ongoing research into determining what components of the marijuana plant can be used as medicine. To date, however, neither the FDA nor

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the Institute of Medicine have found smoked marijuana to meet the modern standard for safe or effective medicine for any condition. As a former police chief, I recognize we are not going to arrest our way out of the problem. We also recognize that legalizing marijuana would not provide the answer to any of the health, social, youth education, criminal justice, and community quality of life challenges associated with drug use. That is why the President's National Drug Control Strategy is balanced and comprehensive, emphasizing prevention and treatment while at the same time supporting innovative law enforcement efforts that protect public safety and disrupt the supply of drugs entering our communities. Preventing drug use is the most cost-effective way to reduce drug use and its consequences in America. And, as we've seen in our work through community coalitions across the country, this approach works in making communities healthier and safer. We're also focused on expanding access to drug treatment for addicts. Treatment works. In fact, millions of Americans are in successful recovery for drug and alcoholism today. And through our work with innovative drug courts across the Nation, we are improving our criminal justice system to divert non-violent offenders into treatment. Our commitment to a balanced approach to drug control is real. This last fiscal year alone, the Federal Government spent over $10 billion on drug education and treatment programs compared to just over $9 billion on drug related law enforcement in the U.S. Thank you for making your voice heard. I encourage you to take a moment to read about the President's approach to drug control to learn more. Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/31/white-house-explains-antilegalization-position-marijuana_n_1068081.html Video: Maryland police officer says end the war on drugs: http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSSzsheoqe4 Law Enforcement Against Prohibition: http://www.leap.cc/

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'Billion dollar' drug ring dealt lethal blow

Provided by PCSO

October 31, 2011 - 3:36 pm

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu announced today in Phoenix the results of a 17-month multiagency drug investigation. Standing behind Babeu is state Attorney General Tom Horne. Photo provided by PCSO.

Federal, state and local authorities announced the results Monday of Operation Pipeline Express, a 17-month multi-agency investigation responsible for dismantling a massive narcotics trafcking organization suspected of smuggling more than $33 million dollars worth of drugs a month through Arizonas western desert, including the Thunderbird Farms area near Maricopa.

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At a news conference Monday, top-level representatives for the agencies overseeing the investigation, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Pinal County Sheriffs Ofce and the Arizona Attorney Generals Ofce, laid out details of the case. Today we have dealt a signicant blow to a Mexican criminal enterprise that has been responsible for poisoning our communities with the distribution of millions of dollars worth of marijuana, cocaine and heroin, said Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne. I nd it completely unacceptable that Arizona neighborhoods are treated as a trading oor for narcotics. "This case is the result of an outstanding partnership between federal and county law enforcement authorities and the Arizona Attorney Generals ofce, which will handle the prosecution. These partnerships are essential to making sure these criminals experience the full force of the justice system. Ofcials say the ring, organized around cells based in the Arizona communities of Chandler, Staneld and Maricopa, used backpackers and vehicles to move loads of marijuana and other drugs from the Arizona-Mexico border to a network of stash houses in the Phoenix area. After arriving in Phoenix, the contraband, which also included cocaine and heroin, was sold to distributors from multiple states nationwide. Mondays announcement comes four days after federal and local investigators executed the third in a succession of large-scale enforcement actions tied to the probe, taking another 22 defendants into custody. To date, 76 individuals have been arrested in connection with Operation Pipeline Express, ranging from organizational bosses to stash house guards and load drivers. During last weeks warranted searches, authorities seized more than two tons of marijuana, 19 weapons including assault ries, handguns, and shotguns and nearly $200,000 in cash. Through our joint efforts, weve sent a resounding message to the Mexican cartels that Arizona is off limits to their operatives, said Matthew Allen, special agent in charge for HSI in Arizona. As this case makes clear, law enforcement in Arizona

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is united in its resolve to protect our communities and our country from the scourge of large-scale narcotics trafcking. We stand ready to use every tool and resource at our disposal to attack and dismantle these organizations. Prior to last weeks takedown, authorities had conducted two other major enforcement actions in connection with Operation Pipeline Express. Earlier this month, agents executed a dozen search warrants throughout central and southern Arizona, including in the communities of Casa Grande and Staneld, taking custody of 17 primary case targets. In mid-September, the initial enforcement action in the investigation resulted in the arrest of six suspects on state drug and conspiracy charges. We in Arizona continue to stand and ght the Mexican drug cartels, who think they own the place, said Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu. This is America and we shall bring a crushing hand of enforcement against those who threaten our families and our national security. While this is a historic drug bust, sadly this represents only a fraction of what my deputies face every day. Intelligence gathered as part of Operation Pipeline Express indicates the organization is tied to Mexicos Sinaloan cartel and has been in existence for at least the last ve years. During that time, authorities conservatively estimate the ring has smuggled more than 3.3 million pounds of marijuana, 20,000 pounds of cocaine and 10,000 pounds of heroin into to the United States, generating almost $2 billion in illicit proceeds. Authorities believe the organization has produced such huge prots by gaining a virtual monopoly over the smuggling routes along an 80-mile section of Arizonas international border, from Yuma to just east of the community of Sells. The probe that evolved into Operation Pipeline Express began in May 2010 following a trafc stop by Pinal County Sheriffs deputies in Staneld. To date, the case has resulted in the seizure of more than 60,000 pounds of marijuana; in excess of 200 pounds of cocaine; approximately 160 pounds of heroin; more than $750,000 in cash; and nearly 110 weapons, including multiple assault ries.

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In addition to the three lead agencies, more than 20 federal, state and local law enforcement organizations provided support for this investigation. They include: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), both Border Patrol and CBP Air and Marine; the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); the U.S. Attorneys Ofce; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Arizona Department of Public Safety; the sheriffs ofces in Pima and Maricopa counties; and the police departments of Casa Grande, Chandler, Coolidge, El Mirage, Eloy, Florence, Gila River, Glendale, Goodyear, Marana, Maricopa, Phoenix and Young Town. Ofcials stressed the drug-trafcking investigation is ongoing and U.S.-based authorities are continuing to coordinate closely with their Mexican law enforcement counterparts, as well as with the HSI and DEA Attach ofces in Mexico, to pursue additional leads and suspects. Much of the cost associated with the investigation is being funded by two federal anti-drug initiatives, the High Intensity Drug Trafcking Area (HIDTA) program and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces. The view video footage of some of the arrests, visithttp://www.dvidshub.net/units/ ICE#.Tq8j7_QUq7s Source: http://www.inmaricopa.com/Article/2011/10/31/pcso-attorney-generalmulti-agency-drug-investigation See: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition: http://www.leap.cc/ Video: L.E.A.P. at the National Press Club: http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=tze3wLCUAGA&feature=relmfu

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Pinal County assists in bringing down major drug trafcking organization

Posted on December 23, 2008 by Pinal County

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced the break-up of the Garibaldi-Lopez Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO), a binational syndicate believed to have smuggled up to 400,000 pounds of marijuana annually from Mexico into the United States since 2003. Fifty-nine individuals were indicted Monday and 39 arrested on felony charges relating to drug trafficking as a result of Operation Tumbleweed, which has also led to the seizure of 25,600 pounds of marijuana, one kilogram of cocaine, 11 pounds of methamphetamine, $769,472 of U.S. currency, 28 vehicles and 25 firearms, along with the recovery of 14 stolen vehicles. This year-long investigation was conducted by a task force comprised of the Phoenix Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Department of Public Safety (DPS), Border Patrol, Attorney Generals Office, Customs Border Protection Air and Marine and the Pinal County Sheriffs Office. As the result of the large, multi-agency operation, which included the Casa Grande and Maricopa areas, in Pinal County three search warrants were served, resulting in 20 arrests, the seizure of 2,000 pounds of marijuana, one pound of cocaine, $2,000 in cash, two vehicles and one house.

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The investigation, indictments and arrests constitute one of the largest take-downs of a drug-smuggling organization in Arizona history in terms of the volume of drugs and scope of operations. The total of up to two million pounds of marijuana that the Garibaldi-Lopez DTO transported from Mexico to stash houses in Phoenix was ultimately sold across the U.S. It carried a wholesale bulk value estimated to be $1 billion. According to investigators, the Garibaldi-Lopez DTO has transported huge volumes of marijuana across the border using vehicles stolen from the U.S. Each stolen vehicle was modified to carry 2,000 to 2,500 pounds of bundled marijuana at a time.

Between one and four of these load vehicles was used for each crossborder shipment, and the DTO ran approximately one shipment per week. Each shipment occurred in two stages. The first stage consisted of transporting the bulk marijuana from Mexico to Pinal County. The DTO

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allegedly loaded the vehicles in Sonoyta, Mexico, and crossed covertly into the U.S. through the desert of the Tohono OOdham Nations reservation. The movement of each load vehicle from Mexico to its final destination at a stash house in Phoenix involved no fewer than 20 people. Pinal County Sheriff Chris Vasquez said, Operation Tumbleweed is a great example of how Federal, State and local law enforcement can work together making our State and County a better place to live, work and raise our children. Operation Tumbleweed should send a strong message to the drug cartels that Pinal County is not the place to do business. Investigators describe the DTOs movement through the desert as methodical. The organization went to great lengths to remain undetected, driving load vehicles through dry washes and dirt roads in barren parts of the desert. Drivers were outfitted with night vision equipment to enable the vehicles to travel in the dark of night without any illumination. The load vehicles also carried tarps in the event they needed to stop and cover up so as not to be visible from the air. After being used, load vehicles were dumped in open areas of Pinal Countys Hidden Valley. Once in Pinal County, the bulk loads were broken down into smaller loads. The second phase of the shipment involved transporting the marijuana from Pinal County to the Phoenix metro area. This was done by a separate group of drivers using inconspicuous SUVs and pickup trucks. Once the drivers from the second stage brought the marijuana to the Phoenix metro area, it was turned over to the first level of customers. These customers allegedly took their share to their respective stash houses. Throughout this operation, investigators took enforcement actions at numerous stash houses throughout the Phoenix metro area and Pinal County. Payment for the marijuana was sent in bulk amounts by motor vehicle from the Phoenix area to Mexico. The load drivers from the first stage and the scouts from the desert would come to Phoenix to be paid, then return to Mexico in a shuttle bus to prepare for the next load. When loads were not being moved, the scouts stayed in a compound in Pinal County. This

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compound housed 10 to 15 scouts at a time awaiting deployment in the Estrella Mountains. Operation Tumbleweed began in January 2008 following separate investigations into the Garibaldi-Lopez organization by many of the agencies involved in todays announcement. The magnitude of this criminal syndicate required the eight agencies involved to assemble a task force of 85 agents to successfully dismantle it.

The investigation concluded with a roundup of 39 individuals and yesterdays indictment of 60 individuals. The serious felony charges against the defendants include transportation and possession of marijuana for sale, illegally conducting an enterprise, money laundering, conspiracy and misconduct involving weapons.

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Todays announcement comes approximately one week after the release of the 2009 National Drug Threat Assessment by the U.S. Department of Justice. This report identified Mexican drug trafficking organizations [as] the greatest organized crime threat to the United States. Source: http://maricopa360.com/?p=2976 See: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition: http://www.leap.cc/ Video: L.E.A.P. at the National Press Club: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=tze3wLCUAGA&feature=relmfu Mexicos Cult(ure) of Death Mexico has a long and bloody history, as well as a murderous and very bloody present. The ancient Aztecs once offered bloody human sacrices to the war god Huitzilopochtli; the Spanish conquistadors once slaughtered thousands of Aztecs; Mexicans once fought a bloody war to gain independence from Spain; Mexicans once fought a bloody revolution to gain a constitutional republic; and the Mexican drug cartels are now wreaking bloody havoc upon the Mexican people and authorities, plunging some cities into a murderous anarchy, thanks to the (failed) War on Drugs. Its no wonder that many Mexican people have now developed a devotion to the new (and unofcial) patron saint of the murderous narco-trafckers: Santa Muerte (Saint Death).

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Another phenomenon of Mexican narco-culture has been the rise of a new music genre: narcocoorridos, or drug ballads. Mexicos narco-culture of murder and violence has also given birth to a new genre of lm: narco cinema. In short, the murderous Mexican drug cartels have virtually taken over Mexico; even to the point of inuencing the Mexican cultures religion, music, and lm. Cuidad Juarez, especially, has become a murderous free-for-all. A large Mexican city, which borders the US, Juarez is just across the Rio Grande from its sister city: El Paso, Texas. From the air, the two cities are indistinguishable and appear to be one, large city (with a combined population of 2.4 million people). I realize that, to most people, Juarez, Mexico is a very far-off place; but its really notits right on the US Mexico border. Being a border city, Juarez has always been a violent place because of all the thugs who tend to congregate in border cities. But recently, due to the narco-trafckers, the violence has gotten out of control. I used to live in El Paso, and Ive been to Juarez; most recently back in 2002. Even then, Juarez was known as the city of disappearing women, so it probably wasnt the best idea for me and my girlfriend (at the time) to visit Juarez, but we did . . . and we also had a wonderful time there. With her long blond hair, she stood out like a sore thumb. Thankfully no one snatched her off the streetpushing her into a car, never to be seen or heard from againas so often happens to many of the women (and men) who live in Juarez. Today Juarez is so violent and out of control that the people who live there are living in a constant state of fear. Human life is very cheap in Mexico these days, thanks to the narco-trafckers. I believe human life is precious, and it breaks my heart to know that the people of Mexico are suffering under the murderous oppression of the violent drug cartels. I think we need to help the Mexican people take control of their country in order to

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gain their own safety and security. Theres no excuse for us allowing what continues to go on there, and things are only getting worse. Lets help the Mexican people build the culture of life they deserve. The drug-related violence in Mexico is directly related to the US market demand for illegal drugs, and the bestand onlyway to end the murderous violence in Mexico is for the US to decriminalize these drugs. One drug in particular, marijuana, which is simply a plant, should be completely legalized. Because the Mexican Drug Trafcking Organizations (DTOs) use the money they make smuggling marijuana into the US to fund their narcotics trafcking, weapons purchases, and bribery money, the elimination of the venture capital cash ow from their marijuana sales would effectively put them out of business. Cut-off the DTOs venture capital by legalizing marijuana and these violent businesses will fold up. According to FBI testimony before the US Congress, May 5, 2010: Mexico is the number one foreign supplier of marijuana abused in the United States. In fact, according to a 2008 inter-agency report, marijuana is the top revenue generator for Mexican DTOsa cash crop that nances corruption and the carnage of violence year after year. The prots derived from marijuana trafcking an industry with minimal overhead costs, controlled entirely by the trafckers are used not only to nance other drug enterprises by Mexicos poly-drug cartels, but also to pay recurring business expenses, purchase weapons, and bribe corrupt ofcials. The US needs to co-opt this cash crop. Take this money out of the hands of the Mexican DTOs and put it into the hands of the American tax-payers. The US economy could really use that money right now and the Mexican people could really benet from the defunding of the murderous Mexican drug cartels, which have made their lives a living hell. If you disagree with me, if you dont believe that marijuana should be legalized, then Im sorry, but youre not thinking about this issue youre just reacting to it.

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Marijuana use is nowhere near as bad for people, health-wise, as is the use of alcohol. Yet alcohol is legal. Nor does marijuana use impair people to the extent that alcohol use does. Yet alcohol is legal. But alcohol used to be illegal in the US, during prohibition. Despite its prohibition, alcohol continued to manufactured and delivered by organized crime syndicates and it continued to be consumed by the American people. The organized crime syndicates that manufactured and distributed alcohol made huge prots from their illegal trade, controlled their trade through violence and murder, and used their prots to fund other illegal ventures and to corrupt police and elected ofcials. In short, the same thing is happening with marijuana prohibition today that once happened with alcohol prohibition. So it doesnt take an Einstein to gure this one out: legalize marijuana. The good people of Juarez, who are suffering, are begging us to; as are their neighbors in El Paso. Marijuana Possession is the Number One Cause for Arrest in NYC:http:// www.hufngtonpost.com/2011/02/11/marijuana-arrests_n_822002.html Parents Marijuana Possession Gets Kids Taken Away:http:// www.hufngtonpost.com/2011/08/18/parents-marijuana-kids-takenaway_n_930796.html?google_editors_picks=true Renowned Mexican Poet Loses Son to US Caused Mexican Violence:http:// www.truth-out.org/javier-sicilia-united-states-imposed-war-us-it-should-changestrategy/1307765699 Mexican Violence: The War at Our Doorstep:http://projects.latimes.com/mexicodrug-war/#/its-a-war How America Lost the War on Drugs:http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/ how-america-lost-the-war-on-drugs-2011032

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Mexico/US failed war on drugs Mexican violence failed policy:http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuEmqDKmUXE&feature=player_embedded Guatemala Used By Mexican DTOs:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmnw6sKJUE&feature=relmfu War on Las Zetas in Tamaulipas:http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Vykq1fm8hmo&feature=relmfu Sinaloa Cartel Favored by US and Mexican government:http:// www.lafronteratimes.com/2011/08/cia-orchestrated-sale-of-arms-to-sinaloa-cartel/ Reporting the Crime News in Mexico:http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=zHJR4tWWKDo&feature=relmfu War in Mexico:http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=qpHcCUQ4ZA4&feature=related Las Zetas may attempt to overthrow Mexican Government in 2012http:// www.borderlandbeat.com/2011/07/los-zetas-may-attempt-to-overthrow.html That which we call sin in others is experiment for us. - Ralph Waldo Emerson If the government cant keep drugs away from inmates who are locked in steel cages, surrounded by barbed wire, watched by armed guards, drug-tested, strip-searched, X-rayed, and videotaped how can it possibly stop the ow of drugs to an entire nation? Ron Crickenberger

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To me, (arresting people for simple marijuana possession is) just a huge waste of taxpayers money. Its not educating people, not doing anything to reduce use. All it does is put people in jail, eat up police time, judges time, right down the line. Ive met a lot of people in my life who occasionally use marijuana. People who are responsible, who have jobs, who pay taxes, who raise families. Productive members of society. They shouldnt be treated like criminals. - Mark Stepnoski, Five-time Pro Bowler, two-time Super Bowler, and new spokesman for NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Washington Times, 1/21/03 We have become a nation oating in a sea of Jack Daniels, punctuated by bobbing capsules of Prozac, adrift on rafts in a catatonic sea. - Al Martin, The Bush Cabal End Game, AlMartinRaw.com We are a drug-habit Nation and alcohol is only one of the many kinds that are being used to excess. - Dr. Harvey Wiley, head of the Bureau of Chemistry in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, addressing the New York City Republican Club, February 18, 1911 Here was a panacea . . . for all human woes; here was the secret of happiness about which philosophers had disputed for so many ages, at once discovered; happiness might now be bought for a penny and carried in the waistcoat pocket; portable ecstasies might be had corked up in a pint bottle; and peace of mind could be sent down in gallons by the mail coach. - Thomas DeQuincey, Confessions of an English Opium Eater, 1822 Cacaoaquauitl: This cacao, when much is drunk, when much is consumed, especially that which is green, which is tender, makes one drunk, takes effect on one, makes one dizzy, confuses one, makes one sick, deranges one. When an ordinary amount is drunk, it gladdens one, refreshes one, consoles one, invigorates one. Thus it is said: I take cacao. I wet my lips. I refresh myself. - Bernardino DeSahagun, Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva Espana, 16th century

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By any secret sleight or cunning, as Drinkes, Drugges, Medicines, charmed Potions, Amatorious Philters, Figures, Characters, or any such like paltering Instruments, Devises, or Practices. - Thomas Newton, Tryall Mans Owne Selfe, 1602 I am glad to have drunk water so long, for the same reason that I prefer the natural sky to an opium-eaters heaven. I would fain keep sober always; and there are innite degress of drunkenness. I believe that water is the only drink for a wise man; wine is not so noble a liquor; and think of dashing the hopes of a morning with a cup of coffee, or of an evening with a dish of tea! Ah, how low I fall when I am tempted by them! - Henry Thoreau, Walden or, Life in the Woods, 1854 As long as the government can arbitrarily decide which substances are legal and which are illegal, then those who remain behind bars for illegal substances are political prisoners. - Paul Krassner, 1999 I received instructions through military channels to provide opium for the Chinese people by establishing an opium suppression board. - Harada Kumakichi, Japanese Military Attache at Shanghai from 1937 to 1939 I had gotten caught with a shopping bag full of marijuana, a shopping bag full of love I was in love with the weed and I did not for one minute think that anything was wrong with getting high. I had been getting high for four or ve years and was convinced with the zeal of a crusader, that marijuana was superior to lush yet the rulers of the land seemed all to be lushes. I could not see how they were more justied in drinking than I was in blowing the gage. I was a grasshopper, and it was natural that I felt myself to be unjustly imprisoned. - Eldridge Cleaver, Soul On Ice, 1968 What marriage is to morality, a properly conducted licensed liquor trafc is to sobriety. - Mark Twains Notebook, 1895

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I know better than to get tight oftener than once in three months. It sets a man back in the esteem of people whose opinions are worth having. - Mark Twain, Letter to Will Bowen, August 25, 1866 Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink under any circumstances. - Mark Twains Notebook Evidence proves that prohibition only drives drunkenness behind closed doors and into dark places, and it does not cure it or even diminish it. - Mark Twain, Letter to San Francisco, July 28, 1867 Of the demonstrably wise there are but two: those who commit suicide, and those who keep their reasoning faculties atrophied with drink. - Mark Twain, Notebook #42, 1898 I love a drink, but I never encouraged drunkenness by harping on its alleged funny side. - Mark Twain, quoted in Abroad with Mark Twain and Eugene Field It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues. - Abraham Lincoln Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it attempts to control a mans appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes at the very principles upon which our government was founded. - Abraham Lincoln Republic. I like the sound of the word. It means people can live free, talk free, go or come, buy or sell, be drunk or sober, however they choose. - John Wayne The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits. - Thomas Jefferson

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I have every sympathy with the American who was so horried by what he had read of the effects of smoking that he gave up reading. - Lord Conesford If you say a modern celebrity is an adulterer, a pervert, and a drug addict, all it means is that youve read his autobiography. - P.J. ORourke There are more old drunkards than old doctors. - Benjamin Franklin My dad was the town drunk. Usually thats not so bad, but New York City? - Henny Youngman When I sell liquor, its bootlegging. When my patrons serve it on a silver tray on Lakeshore Drive, its hospitality. - Al Capone How do you look when Im sober? - Ring Lardner Drugs are murdering our children. - President George Bush the Elder, 1989 John Winkokur: How did you react to winning a Pulitzer? Dave Barry: I gured it was just one more indication of the nations drug problem. Larry King: Dont you think it would be better to legalize victimless crimes like drugs and prostitution and divert the resources to more important things like rapes and assaults and things like that? Senator Tom Harkin: No, I dont agree with that at all. The current environment is so polluted with hysteria that nothing rational can happen to solve the drug problem. Until were able to get the facts into perspective

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and debunk the myths, were just not going to make progress and effectively deal with these issues. - Georgette Bennett The prohibition law, written for weaklings and derelicts, has divided the nation, like Gaul, into three parts wets, drys, and hypocrites. - Florence Sabin, 1931 While the consequences of drugs such as cocaine are indisputably severe, they are not unlike those which ow from the misuse of other, legal, substances. - Byron R. White, U.S. Supreme Court Justice In Europe, when tobacco was rst introduced, it was immediately banned. In Turkey, if you got caught with tobacco, you had your nose slit. China and Russia imposed the death penalty for possession of tobacco. - Andrew Weil, M.D. As society has become less tolerant of drugs, people have become less willing to report drug use, even in anonymous surveys. - National Institute of Justice Stop wasting jail space on prostitutes, drug users and other victimless criminals. Even if we nd it morally acceptable to imprison these people for choices they make regarding their bodies, we must realize that we simply cannot afford to continue clogging the court system and the prison system with the harmless criminals. - Edward B. Wagner Dont do drugs because if you do drugs youll go to prison, and drugs are really expensive in prison. - John Hardwick We simply do not catch a high enough percentage of users to make the law a real threat, although we do catch enough to seriously overburden our legal system. - Jackson Eli Reynolds

End Marijuana Prohibition - Save Lives, Lessen Crime, and Create Jobs

The growth of drug-related crime is a far greater evil to society as a whole than drug taking. Even so, because we have been seduced by the idea that governments should legislate for our own good, very few people can see how dangerously absurd the present policy is. - John Casey Our excessive use of drugs (all drugs the licit and illicit) indicates a deep despair in the country. Drug problems are just bringing us that message. Where despair is greatest, drug use is greatest: the very poor and the very rich. Barrios and boredom produce a need to escape. What to do about barrios and boredom? Killing the messenger (jailing drug users) has only made the problem worse. Its easier to declare war on the messenger than to do something about the message. - Peter McWilliams, Aint Nobodys Business If You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in a Free Society, 1993 It (alcoholic beverages) sloweth age, it strengtheneth youth, it helpeth digestion, it abandoneth melancholie, it relisheth the heart, it lighteneth the mind, it quickeneth the spirits, it keepeth and preserveth the head whirling, the eyes from dazzling, the tongue from lisping, the mouth from snafing, the teeth from chattering, and the throat from rattling; it keepeth the stomach from wambling, the heart from swelling, the hands from shivering, the sinews from shrinking, the viens from crumbling, the bones from aching, and the marrow from soaking. - Anonymous, Thirteenth Century We, the undersigned, recognizing the evils of drunkenness and resolved to check its alarming increase, with consequent poverty, misery and crime among our people, hereby solemnly pledge ourselves that we will not get drunk more than four times a year, viz., Fourth of July, Muster Day, Christmas Day, and SheepSheering. - Massachusetts temperance societies, 1820 If we are going to have freedom, we are going to have to let people act foolishly as well as wisely. - Sam J. Ervin, 1970

End Marijuana Prohibition - Save Lives, Lessen Crime, and Create Jobs

Im not going to talk about what I did as a child. What I am going to talk about and I am going to say this consistently [is that] it is irrelevant what I did 20 to 30 years ago. Whats relevant is that I have learned from any mistakes I made. I do not want to send signals to anybody that what Gov. Bush did 30 years ago is cool to try. George W. Bush in an interview with WMUR-TV in New Hampshire, when asked if he had used drugs, marijuana, cocaine It was just inebriating what Midland was all about then. George W. Bush, from a 1994 interview, as quoted in First Son, by Bill Minutaglio I dont do drugs. I am drugs. -Slavador Dali Reality is a crutch for people who cant cope with drugs. Lily Tomlin Drug addicts may be considered the precursors or experimenters who tirelessly blaze new paths of life, and their cautioness lacks the the foundation for caution. -G.Deleuze Ive never advocated the use of drugs to anyone, but they always worked for me - Hunter Thompson If the words life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness dont include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isnt worth the piece of hemp it was written on. - Terence McKenna A poet makes himself a visionary through a long boundless and systemised disorganization of all the senses. All forms of love of suffering of madness, he searches himself, he exhausts within himself all poisons and preserves their quintessences, unspeakable torment where he will need the greatest faith, a superhuman strength, where he becomes among all men the great accursed, the

End Marijuana Prohibition - Save Lives, Lessen Crime, and Create Jobs

great invalid and the supreme scientist for he attains the unknown. So what if he is destroyed in his ight through things unheard of, unnameable. The poet as the thief of re. - Arthur Rimbaud Well ya see, Norm, its like this A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed rst. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells rst. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efcient machine. Thats why you always feel smarter after a few beers. - Cliff, Cheers Every friend of freedom must be as revolted as I am by the prospect of turning the United States into an armed camp, by the vision of jails lled with casual drug users and of an army of enforcers empowered to invade the liberty of citizens on slight evidence. Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize-winning economist Alcohol didnt cause the high crime rates of the 20s and 30s, Prohibition did. And drugs do not cause todays alarming crime rates, but drug prohibition does. US District Judge James C. Paine, addressing the Federal Bar Association in Miami, November, 1991 Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging than the drug itself. Jimmy Carter Drug misuse is not a disease, it is a decision, like the decision to step out in front of a moving car. You would call that not a disease but an error of judgment. Philip K. Dick

End Marijuana Prohibition - Save Lives, Lessen Crime, and Create Jobs

I am convinced that we can do to guns what weve done to drugs: create a multibillion dollar underground market over which we have absolutely no control. George L. Roman I favor free trade in drugs for the same reason the Founding Fathers favored free trade in ideas: in a free society it is none of the governments business what ideas a man puts into his mind; likewise, it should be none of its business what drugs he puts into his body. Thomas Szasz Im in favor of legalizing drugs. According to my value system, if people want to kill themselves, they have every right to do so. Most of the harm that comes from drugs is because they are illegal. Milton Friedman Acquainted with magic drugs used by her parents before her, she learned how to use those of compelling qualities and became the wedded wife of Belisarius, after having already borne many children. - Procopius of Caesarea, The Secret History, circa 550 CE Opium and morphine are certainly dangerous, habit-forming drugs. But once the principle is admitted that it is the duty of the government to protect the individual against his own foolishness, no serious objections can be advanced against further encroachments Is not the harm a man can inict on his mind and soul even more disastrous than any bodily evils? Why not prevent him from reading bad books and bad plays, from looking at bad paintings and statues and from hearing bad music? The mischief done by bad ideologies, surely, is much more pernicious both for the individual and for the whole society, than that done by narcotic drugs. Von Mises, Human Action The illegal drug trade is the nancial engine that fuels many terrorist organizations around the world, including Osama bin Laden. Dennis Hastert, House Speaker

End Marijuana Prohibition - Save Lives, Lessen Crime, and Create Jobs

The War on Drugs is a price support system for terrorists and drug pushers. It turns ordinary, cheap plants like marijuana and poppies into fantastically lucrative black market products. Without the War on Drugs, the nancial engine that fuels terrorist organizations would sputter to a halt. Ron Crickenberger, Libertarian Party Political Director 2/4/02 Do not suppose that abuses are eliminated by destroying the object which is abused. Men can go wrong with wine and women. Shall we then prohibit and abolish women? Martin Luther The greatest danger is from legal drugs. Terry McNally, at the Conference on World Affairs, Boulder CO, 4/6/04 A country that goes out of its way to imprison the innocent has no business preaching democracy to the world. Paul Craig Roberts