If we are to seriously address the suffering and tragedy that still lies ahead for Haiti, we have to look beyond conventional relief programs that can only provide temporary solutions. That’s why I advocate the widespread bombing of Haiti with high quality medical marijuana seeds to restore the environment, heal the sick, feed the hungry and clothe the children.

Bombing Haiti with medical marijuana seeds will provide more real relief from pain, trauma and PTSD, than anything the current relief efforts could ever hope to provide. Extra seeds could be immediately collected, sprouted and turned into highly nutritious, EFA rich, hemp milk for everyone, including infants.

After just a few weeks, fresh leaves from new plants could be used raw or in teas to provide powerful anti-inflammatory medicines. In less than six months, the population could have an abundance of natural cannabis medicines to provide pain relief and to treat a broad spectrum of medical issues.

Any solution, short of bombing Haiti with sustainable, renewable, cannabis will only result in more misery and tragedy for these unfortunate people. Simply giving money to Haiti isn’t enough and we can’t even be sure how much money actually goes to those who need it. It’s time for real solutions, not bogus corporate relief shows, however well intentioned, that have no long term strategy.

Bombing Haiti with life giving cannabis seeds may seem like a joke to some folks, but it is a real solution that can provide real help for a people who desperately need a real miracle.

In Strunk v. United States, 412 U.S. 434 (1973), the Supreme Court ruled that if the reviewing court finds that a defendant’s right to a speedy trial was violated, then the indictment must be dismissed and/or the conviction overturned. The Court found that, since the delayed trial itself is the state action which violates the defendant’s rights, no other remedy would be appropriate. Thus, a reversal or dismissal of a criminal case on speedy trial grounds means that no further prosecution for the alleged offense can take place.

Despite the Constitutional guarantee to a speedy trial, virtually every defendant waives their right to a speedy trial, since that in what their attorneys always tell them to do. But why should you waive this valuable right, if you believe you are innocent?

In California’s Mendocino County, there has only been one case in the past ten years of a pot grower who was convicted by a jury. Recently, attorney Edie Lerman hung a jury on a 400 pound medical marijuana case in Mendocino. The DA has publicly admitted she can’t get convictions against growers because of jury nullification. Former DA Keith Faulder has even stated privately that no prosecutor in Mendocino could get a case ready in 60 days and certainly the court could not put on a jury trial in that period of time. Nevertheless, virtually every grower who is arrested in Mendocino plea bargains. As a result, Mendocino has one of the highest arrest and conviction rates in the state.

So if you insist on a speedy trial, how much time do you have to wait until your case can be dismissed for violating your rights? Different states have different interpretations of what length of time constitutes a speedy trial. Here in California, the courts have established the following time limits to meet the state and federal constitutional requirements for a speedy trial:

* Arraignment — After an accused is arrested, he must be brought to court for arraignment, without any unnecessary delay, within two court days of his arrest.

* PreLiminary Hearing — A preliminary hearing must be held within 10 court days of the arraignment unless the defendant waives that right. If the preliminary hearing is not held within the 10 days required by law, the case must be dismissed.

* Trial — The general rule is that a defendant must be brought to trial within 60 calendar days of his arraignment, on felony cases. In a misdemeanor case, the defendant must be brought to trial if he is in custody, within 30 days and if out of custody within 45 days. Dismissal is required only if a defendant is not brought to trial within statutory time limits without good cause. Good cause may be determined on many different reasons.

When there is a violation of the 60 day rule, the defendant is entitled to a dismissal unless there is good cause shown for the delay by the prosecution. The defendant must not waive his rights to a speedy trial and must object to a continuance by the prosecution and then move to dismiss if the delays are violating the constitutional rights.

If just a few people would simply exercise their Constitutional right to a speedy trial, the war on drugs would come to a screeching halt. Instead they foolishly waive their rights and accept convictions and fines as common criminals.

Here are the key concepts you must master to win:

1. NON-COOPERATION WITH TYRANNY IS A DUTY. America was founded on the premise that we have inalienable rights that cannot be separated from us by any law or government. The Drug War is unconstitutional, immoral, and no longer supported by voters or juries. Your non-cooperation with this corrupt war on American citizens is the surest way our Constitution and Bill of Rights can be restored.

2. NONVIOLENCE - We don’t want to kill our enemies, only expose their lies and their greed for power over others. Any form of anger on your part must be left at the door, or it will make you no better than your adversaries and bring failure to your efforts. Only when others sense your commitment to the high road, will the justice you seek become possible. Those who attended my trial saw that I always wore a suit and showed respect. I even held doors open for my prosecutors, so they could push in their huge cart filled with 4,000 pages of lies against me. My polite behavior only made their accusations look more wild and ridiculous.

3. REFUSE TO WAIVE TIME - You have the Constitutional right to a speedy trial and yet virtually every defendant is told by their attorneys to waive their right. What few attorneys ever tell their clients is that if they refuse to waive time, they must be tried within 60 days or the case must be dismissed. In the real world, few prosecutors can prepare a case in 60 days and even fewer courts can organize a jury trial in that time.

4. NEVER PLEA BARGAIN - This is a slippery slope. It might look like a great idea to begin with, but in the end, you lose, everyday for the rest of your life. You won’t get what you were promised and you’ll only endanger others by cooperating with government terrorists.

5. GO ALL OUT ON THE PRELIMINARY HEARING - Winning your Preliminary Hearing means the judge will dismiss the case and your troubles are over. Most defense attorneys will advise you to do little in your Preliminary Hearing, so they can see what the prosecution’s case is about and then prepare a defense. That is definitely the wrong tactic in a bona fide medical marijuana case. You want an attorney who will fight with everything you have to win your case in the Prelim, regardless of the costs or time involved. Top medical marijuana attorney J. David Nick once took a Prelim on for 18 months, until the prosecutor gave up in desperation.

6. INSIST ON A JURY TRIAL - Less than 3% of defendants exercise their right to a jury trial and yet the court system is in near gridlock. Refusing to cooperate and demanding a trial places a significant load on the criminal justice system and is the surest way to end this phony drug war. Nearly all medical marijuana trials end in acquittals or hung juries, so take your case directly to your fellow citizens and trust them to see through the prosecutor’s lies.

7. USE THE MEDIA - Most courts will not allow you to tell your story and you must depend upon the media to get the truth out. Focus on winning in the court of public opinion and your victory with the jury will be assured.

8. TARGET POLICY MAKERS - ignore the police and prosecutors and target their superiors. It is Sheriffs and D.A.s who are the generals in the Drug War and they are the ones who are responsible for your current grief. Organize a recall election against your D.A. Your recall will probably fail miserably, but your D.A. will back off prosecuting other medical cannabis patients, once you put a little heat to their feet.

9. SEEK CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES - Use the courts and your local grand jury to obtain indictments and convictions against rogue officials, since this is the ONLY thing sheriffs, police chiefs and district attorneys understand or respect. Never forget what was done to you until EVERY rogue sheriff, district attorney, police chief, and judge has been brought to justice. We owe it to all who have died and suffered horribly in this war to dedicate the rest of our lives to bringing these drug war criminals to justice.

10. REFUSE PROBATION - Probation is no different than plea bargaining, because you are trading away your rights for a deal that will never work in your favor. You are better off to take jail over probation, because probation nearly always leads to further violations and trouble with the law.

11. DOCUMENT ABUSES - It’s your job to document and prove abuse. Sooner or later, a reform-minded administration will be elected and they will want to investigate your charges and seek justice.

You are now a professional defendant. Your life will be your trial. Do what you can to survive and remain true to the belief that YOU ARE INNOCENT. A law was passed five years ago that gives you the RIGHT to use, grow and possess this medicine. Don’t be afraid to stand up for what you believe.

Good luck and remember to focus on the positive.

Since Garrido has blamed his history of rape and kidnapping on his use of marijuana and LSD, it has been suggested by some activists that the Garrido case will be used as a “Willie Horton” style attack on this year’s crop of voter initiatives to legalize the possession, use and cultivation of marijuana. However, it would seem that this case shows just the opposite and is actually a classic example of how the war against pot diverts police from fighting real crime.

Garrido was registered as a sex offender, regularly visited by parole officers and fitted with an ankle bracelet to track his movements, yet Placerville law enforcement refused to follow up on complaints by neighbors about children living in his backyard.

The shocking truth is that Garrido was only able to abduct his victim, because he had convinced a judge to reduce his sentence, by claiming it was really marijuana and LSD that made him do bad things. Court documents show Garrido requested that his 50-year sentence be reduced to 25, making him eligible for parole in eight years and the judge agreed. However, once he arrive in Nevada, Garrido was automatically eligible for state parole because of the time served in federal prison. Garrido celebrated his freedom by abducting Jaycee Lee Dugard, as she waited for her school bus to arrive and while her horrified father watch helplessly from a distance.

Meanwhile, Placer County conducted a full SWAT raid on my home and family with 20 heavily armed agents, based upon an anonymous letter alleging I was growing cannabis, when they knew I was a legal patient. Placer County didn’t hesitate to commit 20 officers to raid my home — threatening the lives of innocent children, for the crime of growing plants. After being arrested and nearly killed while in custody, I was charged with 19 felonies and threatened with 40 years to life. Only after raising and spending $500,000 and fighting in courts for a decade, was I able to get everything dismissed.

Contrast the SWAT raid by Placer County against me and my family — for growing a healing herb, in accordance with state law — with Placerville responding to a 911 call, by a concerned neighbor, about a sex offender having children living in his backyard, with the Sheriff’s department sending one officer to talk with Garrido, outside his home.

What if police could no longer raid suspected cannabis gardeners, because of re-legalization and they were actually forced to investigate real crimes instead? What if all those officers who are ready to organize a mass SWAT raid on medical marijuana patients were forced to deal with stuff like kidnapping, sex offenders, or even something as mundane as auto theft?

Police say legalizing marijuana would endanger the public safety, but the facts suggest just the opposite. All that anyone can say for sure is that so long as marijuana remains illegal, the Phillip Garridos of this world will be free to abduct and rape all the little girls they desire.

When I was dragged off a plane at SFO and jailed 3 years ago, my blood pressure soared to 260/220 and I started pissing blood. The guards were so freaked, they demanded that I sign a statement that if I died, it would be my fault. I survived and all charges and convictions were dismissed, but I still suffer physical symptoms from the effects of that attempt on my life.

Hundreds of other bona fide patients have not survived the Drug Thugs, including the recent homicide of double amputee Marilyn Holsten in BC and the judicial homicide of personal friends, like Peter McWilliams.

When will the insanity end?

Of course, none of this comes as a surprise to libertarians, because we know the government cannot be trusted or believed. Yet, for most people, their response to news of continued raids is that we should organize a letter writing campaign and conduct a beg-a-thon, asking government officials to be nicer to us.

While it is pathetic that freedom-loving Americans should be reduced to beggars and powerless serfs, the future looks even worse, because most Americans have forgotten what real freedom is about.

Sadly, most Americans just don’t understand that freedom cannot be licensed, liberties cannot be regulated and rights cannot be granted. History teaches us that when the rights and liberties of a free people have restrictions upon them, they cease to be freedoms and rights. Instead, the government becomes like a king, bestowing privileges upon the chosen few and servitude upon everyone else.

From the Prop. 215 Ballot Arguments:

“Proposition 215 does not require a written prescription. Anyone with the “oral recommendation or approval by a physician” can grow, possess or smoke marijuana. No medical examination is required.”

“Proposition 215 does not restrict the use of marijuana to AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and other serious illnesses. … No medical examination is required. There is no age restriction. … This initiative allows unlimited quantities of marijuana to be grown.”

“READ THE FINE PRINT. Proposition 215 legalizes marijuana use for “any other illness for which marijuana provides relief.” This could include stress, headaches, upset stomach, insomnia, a stiff neck . . . or just about anything.”

– JAMES P. FOX, President, California District Attorneys Association

“Proposition 215 requires absolutely no written documentation of any kind to grow or smoke marijuana.”

– SHERIFF BRAD GATES, Past President, California State Sheriffs’ Association

Since that time the Moderates have accomplished a great deal:

– reduced no limits to 6 plants per patient
–saddled us with yearly, expensive, state ID and physician’s letters, as well as
–new tax and regulate schemes that give us nothing we aren’t already entitled to.

Wow, that’s a record of achievement the narcs would envy!

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Back in 1995-96, while the initiative was being written, medical marijuana proponents were split into two camps, the Moderates and the Radicals. Basically, the Moderates wanted the Prop. 215 initiative to only cover seriously ill patients and, if I recall correctly, actually described 215 as only providing an affirmative defense.

Dennis Peron, the founder of the medical marijuana movement opposed the Moderates and pointed out that by the time the courts and cops were done with implementing their version, “Patients would only be allowed to use marijuana the last half hour of their life.”

Despite intense negotiations, both sides would not budge. Then, the Moderates filed their version of 215, without telling us, which would have made their bogus, watered-down version, the law today. Of course, when the Radicals found out about this, we were determined not to be chained to a version of 215 we thought was too weak.

Fortunately, the Radicals went down to the Election Department and filed the final version, paying by money order, instead of a check, as the Moderates did. In doing so, the Radicals moved ahead of them and the Moderate version ended up on the garbage heap of history.

Now comes the lesson for us all. The very Moderates, who nearly succeeded in eviscerating Prop. 215, and the same folks who got the legislature to set a six plant limit for all Californian’s are now tripping over each other to claim credit for Peron’s achievements. Several high profile Moderates are forever boasting of having drafted 215, despite the fact that their version ended up in the crapper. One of the Moderates, who brazenly claims to be the author of Prop. 215, has become a TV regular, whenever someone is needed to bash Prop. 215 and medical marijuana.

Missed in all this is the real hero, Anna T. Boyce, RN, who was able to get the California Legislature to pass the first version of 215, twice, only to be vetoed by Governor Pete Wilson. Anna and I attended a ten-year celebration of Prop. 215, held in LA, by Americans for Safe Access. Nobody recognized Anna that night. Instead, we endured a tedious line of self-congratulatory wannabees claiming authorship of 215. On that glorious night of celebration, I could only feel shame for our movement, as I began to realize the insipid role that the Moderates have assumed and the quiet lies they perpetuate.

It is visionaries like Anna T. Boyce and radicals like Dennis Peron who have created a new world for us. Unfortunately, it is Moderates who have since bartered away our rights and stolen real victory for us — while they peddle their photoshopped, revisionist version of history instead.

There are always those who scoff at new ideas and ventures. Such Doubters will tell you, and anyone else who will listen, that Cannabis Science, Inc., our new cannabinoid pharmaceutical company, is too risky and our stock too volatile.

Yes, our venture is a risk and investors could lose everything, but where is there a “safe” investment these days?

Let’s say we had a deal with Lehman Bros. It was guaranteed by AIG and funded by RBS and our cash is managed by Madoff & Co. Think how respectable that would have looked.

Meanwhile in the real world, we launched in the worst financial crisis in modern history. There is no venture capital, especially for “medical marijuana”, and we have not been able to raise any money through conventional routes.

So, for us, right now, acquiring a publicly traded company, and selling our stock today, is a significant accomplishment, not just for us, but for all who believe in this important cause.

However, our effort is much more than that.  We are a group of veteran activists, who are taking our cherished principles and ideals from Main Street to Wall Street.  We are betting our lives and our fortunes on economic and social principles that will allow us to demonstrate to the business world that free markets and medical freedom are the wave of the future.

Will we succeed?

Yes, but only if people such as yourself become involved, support our efforts and become personally invested in our future together.

Together, we CAN create the kind of world we dream about.

It has also been announced that Lori Garver, a person I met about two decades ago, has been named to be Bolden’s deputy administrator. It also seems appropriate to comment on her fitness for service at NASA.

The country is poised between two major paths forward for space policy. One path would be to continue existing policies to have NASA build and operate space transportation systems such as the Constellation space flight vehicle. This policy would have NASA continue to operate the space station. Under the last president, a policy to send astronauts back to the Moon in some future decade was announced.

Another path forward would be to choose space policies conducive to the development of private commercial space transportation and space capabilities. Companies like Scaled Composites, Virgin Galactic, Orbital Outfitters, Blue Origins, XCOR, Armadillo Aerospace, Bigelow, and many more are poised to provide suborbital and orbital passenger transportation, commercial satellite launch, and hotels in orbit. In several instances, these companies have built and tested hardware. Bigelow space habitat test modules are in orbit right now, for example.

Which policy path should we anticipate would be chosen by Bolden? I believe the clues to his preferences are found in his job history. He has not been involved in private commercial space companies. His military and astronaut careers argue for a government-oriented outlook. His post-NASA career as a lobbyist for rocket contractor Alliant Techsystems and his position on the board of directors of Constellation contractor (and conglomerate) GenCorp suggest he’ll prefer a government dominated space policy approach.

Indeed, there is a very high potential for conflict of interest in Bolden pushing for a policy that continues the Constellation development program since he has a past work history with Constellation contractor companies. Whether the Obama administration actually enforces its policy against such conflicts of interest is, of course, made more doubtful by the appointment of Bolden.

This matter may be moot. There are rumors that senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland may oppose Bolden’s appointment on general suspicion of having another astronaut as head of the space agency. However, in the event of his appointment, I would expect Bolden to be a promoter of NASA domination of the civilian space sector. He does not seem likely to be friendly toward space tourism start-ups or free market space policies.

My experience of Lori Garver suggests the exact same expectations. I met her when she was the notorious executive directrix of the Nationalist Space Society (NSS), a group founded by arch-Nazi mass murderer Wernher von Braun - the designer, developer, and man in charge of the V2 weapons program that slaughtered so many in Allied cities like London, Paris, Antwerp, Lille and others. About 2,724 people were killed, nearly 6,000 injured, and many thousands made homeless by von Braun’s weapons.

Garver impressed me as an exceptionally unpleasant bureau-rat. In her capacity as executive directrix she hounded former L5 Society staff after that group’s unfortunate merger with von Braun’s Nationalist Space Institute formed the NSS. I was particularly appalled at the treatment of chapters administrator Aleta Jackson at the hands of Garver.

In 1990, I resigned from the board of directors of the NSS because the group had, to my surprise and embarrassment, come out against cheap access to space. They did so without consulting the board of directors. Though we were not consulted, a major expenditure for the group paid a law firm to draft a petition based on the 1974 Trade Act accusing China of dumping its Long March Rocket in a sale related to the launch of an Arabsat. I felt at the time that the action by the legislative committee of the board was wrong, and that the action was meant to benefit NASA contractor McDonnell Douglas (McDAC) in marketing its Delta launch vehicle. The president of NSS at the time had worked extensively for McDAC.

In my view, the NSS became a pro-government and government-only space policy organ. I believe it was substantially funded by defense contractor companies to create the impression that there was grassroots support for endless government boondoggles. Naturally, I saw Garver as one of the leading proponents of that policy approach.

It should come as no surprise that someone as committed to state solutions and as opposed to free market concepts as president Obama would appoint people like Bolden and Garver. Since Garver worked during his campaign as Obama’s space policy advisor, we can expect he’s thoroughly briefed on her views.

What may be expected of a Charles Bolden administration of NASA? More policy twists and turns. The same sort of thing that caused Andrew Beal to give up on Beal Aerospace. The same sort of thing that destroyed Rotary Rocket, Pacific American Launch Systems, Space Travel Services, American Rocket Company, and many other commercial space start-ups.

We can expect that NASA won’t be opening the door to the human settlement of space. Instead, NASA will continue to be the door. Earth is on lock-down until further notice.