Marijuana.com

Herb Ninja

I have inhaled

by Aaron Russo www.RussoForPresident.com

Marijuana.

There. I said it.

Of all the issues facing America, a common, harmless plant seems to be one of the toughest for our politicians to confront with honesty, integrity or even common sense.

Bill Clinton didn't inhale. Al Gore and George W. Bush shuffled their feet and referred to "youthful indiscretions."

My name is Aaron Russo, and I am not ashamed to say I have smoked marijuana. At least 70 million Americans have smoked marijuana. Millions of Americans continue to smoke marijuana occasionally, or even on a regular basis, with no ill effects.

No ill effects, that is, except those which their government inflicts upon them with its war on marijuana.

Nearly 700,000 Americans were arrested on marijuana-related charges in 2002 -- more than 600,000 of them for possession. Possession! Of a plant! [1]

The federal government has no authority in any state to deal with marijuana. When I tell this to people they frequently don't understand what I'm taking about. So what I say to them is this, "When we had prohibition in America we had to pass a constitutional amendment to bring prohibition to America. Congress and the President couldn't pass a law because they wanted to, because they didn't have the legal standing, the legal authority, to pass that law against liquor. So they passed a constitutional amendment which means that three-quarters of the states ratified the law, which was legal and proper and it was done correctly - although in my opinion, it was stupid. The federal government has never passed any amendment to give them any authority in the issue of marijuana. They simply don't have any authority, but they take it anyway!"

Let's talk about war. War is -- or at least should be -- a last resort, undertaken in defense of American lives and American rights. It is -- or at least should be -- an exception, not the rule. It is a drastic measure, and it entails drastic results.

Wars cost money. The federal government alone spends more than $20 billion per year fighting a war it can never win and that it doesn't want to win anyway, because declaring victory would mean that thousands of bureaucrats and "law enforcement officers" would have to go home and get real jobs.

Wars produce prisoners. Today, more than 2 million Americans live behind bars -- 450,000 of them for no other reason than drug related charges -- marijuana being the most frequently cited such substance. [2] On a per capita basis, America imprisons more of its own people than any country on the face of the earth.

Wars produce casualties, and this war has produced casualties beyond counting. I think often of my late friend, Peter McWilliams, a great man and a beloved author. Peter died in his bathtub, nauseated by chemotherapy and too weakened to save himself from choking to death on his own vomit. Why? Because a federal judge barred him from using California's medical marijuana law as a defense, and then held his mother's house as collateral to force him not to use the only substance that made a difference for him. In his trial, he was not even permitted to inform the jury that he had cancer. Peter was murdered by his own government. [3]

Countless others lie in their graves or crawl through their lives in terrible pain, for no better reason than to continue an immoral and unwinnable war.

Wars deprive the young of their futures. Public schools impose draconian "drug testing" requirements on kids who seek to go beyond the call of duty and participate in extra-curricular activities. The federal government discriminates against students seeking financial aid to attend college if they've been unlucky enough to get caught on the wrong side of the marijuana laws. A generation is faced with submission to tyranny or the loss of opportunity.

Wars direct money and power into hands they would otherwise not find their way into. Because our government bans the production and use of industrial hemp, Americans are held hostage to foreign oil, leading inevitably to even more wars to keep the crude flowing. Hemp is a viable, renewable replacement for fossil fuels. Today, right now, a few Americans drive cars powered by "bio-diesel." A fuel which produces fewer polluting emissions than normal petroleum products. A fuel which would be incredibly cheap at the pump if American farmers were allowed to legally produce and sell it. Hemp was once one of America's largest cash crops, and today, legalized, it could very well be the key to saving America's family farms.

Industrial hemp isn't just for running cars, either. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were printed on hemp paper. It's a stronger, more durable paper than that made from wood pulp. Legal industrial hemp would mean cheaper and better paper, cloth -- and even composite timber -- for America's consumers.

This is the war that our politicians defend. No wonder they shuffle their feet and avert their eyes. They're ashamed of what they're doing. And they damn well should be. The war on marijuana has damaged America economically, and its impact on the liberties of Americans has been ruinous.

As a candidate for the presidency of the United States, it's my duty to offer solutions. The president can't do everything, but he can do a lot. And I will do a lot:

* As your president, I'll immediately appoint a special pardons commission to expedite the release of every non-violent marijuana offender in America's prison systems.

* As your president, I'll direct the Justice Department to cease and desist from its unjustifiable raids on medical marijuana facilities in states which have legalized the medical use of marijuana. I'll also direct the nation's US Attorneys to accept no further cases for prosecution which consist solely of non-violent marijuana-related offenses.

* As your president, I'll veto any budget sent to me by Congress which includes so much as one thin dime of funding for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Drug Enforcement Agency, or any other federal activity which has as its goal the prosecution, or persecution, of non-violent marijuana users.

* As a Libertarian president, my aim is to get the federal government out of education entirely. So long as it remains involved in education, however, I'll veto any appropriation or legislation which in any way discriminates against non-violent marijuana users in delivery of education or aid for education.

* Finally, as your president, I will pressure Congress to repeal all federal laws prohibiting the cultivation, sale or possession of marijuana -- including industrial hemp, medical marijuana and recreational marijuana. I will protect marijuana users from the federal government. States will no longer be guided by the federal laws on marijuana. As I helped to get medical marijuana laws passed in Nevada, I will use the bully pulpit of the presidency to encourage the states which have not already done so to eliminate their prohibition of this common and useful plant.


No war is more vicious than a war declared by a government upon its own people. No politician who pledges to continue such a war, or who acquiesces in prolonging it, deserves your support.

It's time to elect a president who will end the war on marijuana and usher in a just peace. I'm asking for your support so that I can be that president.

-----

NOTES

[1] Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2002 Uniform Crime Report.
[2] Baltimore Sun, "U.S. prison population largest in world," June 1,
2003.
[3] "Peter McWilliams, RIP," by William F. Buckley, Jr., June 2000.

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"Truth is treason in an empire of lies." -Ron Paul

 

Logos

This man's got my vote!

Imagine if everyone boycotted the dems and repubs, and voted third party down the line.

I wonder what the electoral college would do then...

YOU WILL NEVER VOTE FOR THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES! --My tenth grade history teacher.

Please vote responsibly!

Got VOTE?
Logos

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Brother Logos
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Hiz Highness

Killing the educational system will never get my vote. Neither will privatizing it. We certainly need to fix the mess that our public educational system has become, but turning it over to states or corporations doesn't strike me as a great solution.

(Especially states. Watch Georgia, Texas, and Alabama start teaching creationism as a fact in schools. That's just what we need)

-HH

Higher Logic

He's got my vote That would be pretty cool if this guy won...though, he should really go for ALL drug legalization, not just cannabis.

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Pufnstuf

I would much rather vote for Russo than George W. Bush. Bush is a religious nut who is going to cause a holy world war. Whatever happened to separation of Church and State. Religion is just another way people justify killing innocent people. More people have died in the name of God than any other cause.

And in addition (and this is copied from my previous posts):

No president, or individual or corporation for that matter, has done more to destroy the reputation of the United States of America more than George W. Bush. And he has managed to do this in just three short years. We no longer have allies in many European countries and no longer can we count on help from our neighboring countries such as Canada and Mexico. Given four more years of GW our country will face its greatest national crisis its ever known. I currently live in Texas and must tell you that this state is not a given any longer for Bush. The people here are fed up with his lies and poor leadership. We have organized an event in Dallas for July which can be found at :

www.bushwhackmusicfestival.com

Our goal is to put someone else in the White House other than George W. Bush.

The festival organizers tend to be Pro Kerry which is fine. Myself, I'm more libertarian and will vote that way. But I'll be damned if I sit by and watch this great country disentigrate any further than it already has with George W. Bush running it. And finally, the last time I can remember a country with the power and might of the United States invading a country to rid it of evil and then praise its generals and leaders for torturing prisoners and citizens of that country was a country led by a guy named Adolph Hitler.

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kriptonchronic

I'm still voting for Kerry. This persons ideas although nice, are still too radicial to get more than 1,000 people are going to vote. my vote still goes with kerry and Here's Why

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Herb Ninja

Mucho respect Logos, but I was already reasonable sure you wouldn't waste your vote on Bush or Kerry.

Hes better then Bush and Kerry and id be willing to debate that if its not already blatantly obvious.

Lets hear your ideas for "fixing the mess" then. Please explain to me why the government should control the "education" of the country, and why its better then privitization? Please explain to me how the government has any right to have a mandatory school system that strips rights from sovereign American people? Tell me how detaining people, a blatant obstruction of freedom, is justified when these people commited no crimes?

Why Schools Don't Educate.

Peace, HN-

psthbng

Everyone already knows how anal G.W. is. I think if we leave him in office and win some more of the supreme court decisions we can force him to admit that the states should control their drug policys. Kerry is scary. He wants us to idolize him for his actions in Vietnam but not pay any attention to his past congressional voting patterns. Voting to gut our intelligence agency's budget. Voting against a national defense missile system. Let's see, doesn't want us to know what might be coming over the horizon nor be able to defend ourselves against it. Hmmm! Already he has stated that if elected he would pull us out of Iraq(bringing the war here?). Involving more of our allies in the Iraq conflict(what, bring in France, Germany and Russia to continue the oil for food program???) He wants to remove G. W.'s tax rebate program and raise taxes on the rich! (JFK proved that lowering taxes improved the economy//The rich are the ones who create jobs for the rest of us) I believe Kerry is a globalist who wants to hand our government over to the U.N.. If it were up to me the U.N. would be moved lock stock and barrel to a neutral country and we wouldn't pay the sky high (no pun) dues they want from us, while essentually (sp) stabbing us in the back. I would love it if an independent candidate could get ten percent of the general primary vote i.e. inclusion in the presidential debates. Someone who would break the silent agreement between the Republicrats and the Demicans as to what would be debated. Bring up the subject of Red China running the Panama canal, the porosity of our southern border and the blanket amnesty/citizenship of illegals, of course marijuana and the War on the People. Thanks for allowing me to rant.