Regulation, Not Repression

Amen Brother Sharpe!

Drug use is an individual's choice; it may well be a poor one. Drug abuse can lead to tragic consequences, no controversy there. As seen with the regulatory and educational efforts regarding tobacco, its widespread [ab]use has been reduced-- with education, and without governmental coercion, save restrictions on where [adult] smokers may indulge their habits.

Coercion, betrayal, forfeiture, incarceration, corruption-- The brutal acts and effects of our 'drug war' comprise atrocity. The black market makes obscene profits for all the wrong people; with the value of Cannabis flowers hovering near that of gold, our national forests are in jeopardy of large-scale invasion, while more and more homes are being converted into grow-ops... Enforcement of the fraudulent* Federal law creates careers and obscene profits for narks, cops, prosecutors, lawyers, judges, probation officers, bail bondsmen, and our national shame-- the world's largest prison industry, along with its supply chain.

It is time to end the cruel and futile effort to protect adults from mutually agreeable transactions, and abolish Cannabis prohibition in its entirety... [Go, Jack Herer!]

*The ill-fated Prohibition of Alcohol had the 18th amendment behind it; the "Controlled Substances Act of 1970" has "Wickard v Filburn"...

The Tenth Amendment notwithstanding, the 1970 Controlled Substances Act's Schedule I has 3 criteria (*ALL 3* of which must be met for inclusion):
#1- A lack of accepted use in medical treatment in the United States; #2- A lack of accepted safety for use under the supervision of a physician; #3- A high potential for abuse.

I have a notarized document from my Ophthalmologist that independently belies #1. Beyond that, twelve [United] States have laws that EXPLICITLY accept Cannabis' use in medical treatment. As for #2, DEA Administrative law judge Francis L Young observed that raw potatoes are more toxic than Cannabis; with tobacco and alcohol widely marketed, you can easily do the math. And if Cannabis has an artificially-elevated potential for abuse, it is largely due to being marketed by an unregulated 'criminal' industry that generally does not check customers' ID for adulthood [whereas an adult arguably has the unalienable right to medicate with the herb as (s)he sees fit].

As George Washington instructed his gardener-- "Make the most of the Indian hemp seed; sow it everywhere."

Any questions?

Preach on brother Sharpe!