Shadow EPA Administrator Resigns From Shadow Cabinet
I resign from the shadow cabinet organized by Tom Knapp.
When I agreed to the appointment, I didn’t notice that the “Jim” being appointed as shadow NASA Administrator was the same person who has written that I am “scum”, “authoritarian”, “mad with power”, that I “like to see women and children massacred”, and that I am a “bloodthirsty coward”. Not surprisingly, he admits he is “obnoxious and disliked, I know it’s true. So what?”
Mr. Davidson may have no qualms serving alongside someone he describes in this manner, but my standards are different. This takes the whole “Team of Rivals” concept a little farther than I’m willing to go.
Observers of this shadow cabinet project are invited to test its commitment to transparency by counting how many minutes before this posting gets censored under some rationale or other. It will be interesting to see if Mr. Knapp is willing to live his Boston Tea Party values about airing dirty laundry — or if his standards about transparency are different in a context where he wields ultimate authority. Mr. Knapp is running for President of the United States, so his actions here could plausibly be taken as a preview of those he would take in the Oval Office.
NASA delenda est
I would like to thank Mr. Knapp for the temporary appointment as NASA Administrator for his cabinet. I refer to the appointment as temporary because my duty is to eliminate the agency, auction off its parts, return the land to the several states or universities from which it came, and thereby open the space frontier.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is a corrupt agency, a killer, and an impediment to space access. Based on the decades that I’ve studied the agency, I have come to the conclusion that it is designed to function in exactly these ways. It is working as designed, so “fixing” it isn’t a solution.
NASA’s corruption is so complete that even efforts for competing tourism activities near the major space centers have been attacked and shut down. NASA has attacked and destroyed hundreds of space entrepreneurs, to the detriment of their business enterprises, health, and sometimes lives. NASA is not even competent to provide consistent, safe access to space, but has, on three separate occasions, slaughtered the entire crew complement of one of its Apollo capsules and two of its shuttles.
In organising its shuttle and space station programmes, NASA has consistently divided these up to engage or form companies in as many Congressional districts as possible. As a result, these activities have been behind schedule, over budget, and in the case of the shuttle, very deadly. Efforts to reform NASA and fix its problems have been many and varied. The recommendations are always the same, and are always circumvented.
As a space enthusiast from a very young age, I have always wanted to go live on the Moon. I have wanted to build hotels on the Moon. These dreams are deliberately and actively prevented by NASA policies, and by the implementation of its corrupt allocation of contracts, its attacks on competitors in the private sector, and its determination never to find and punish specific acts of negligence nor criminal corruption.
Some libertarians think that NASA is an agency worth having. The exploration of space and the development of new technologies seem like worthy goals. However, even the most cursory examination of NASA as it actually performs shows that it is deliberately corrupt in every activity, violently and brutally coercive in its treatment of every private enterprise activity, and frequently an impediment even to international cooperation in space.
If there were no NASA, how would Americans get into space? Dozens of existing space tourism companies, many of them here in the United States, are eager to develop and in many cases have tested manned spaceflight capabilities. Companies like Bigelow Aerospace have developed orbiting facilities, several of which have also been tested. Past efforts to work with NASA to develop space tourism modules for the shuttle, or to provide commercial space launches to the space station, have failed. In some cases they have resulted in further opportunities for corruption.
The myths surrounding NASA are many, but the most dangerous myth that NASA promotes is the concept that access to space is difficult, expensive, and dangerous. Access to space is actually possible with technologies developed in the 1940s and was routine in the late 1950s. The refinement and advancement of these technologies offers many inexpensive approaches, such as mass production, generational technology development, and reduced bureaucracy. Countries such as Russia which have used some of these approaches are able to provide much lower cost access to space and have far better safety records than NASA.
NASA has proven, time and again, what has been known by Austrian economists and free market capitalists the world over. The government is a terribly inappropriate, brutally coercive, and tremendously expensive agency for any activity which can be provided by the private sector. NASA’s activities function as a series of cautionary tales, not only of how not to do things in space, but how not to do things on Earth.
It has been my conclusion, moreover, that NASA must be eliminated. NASA delenda est.
New Shadow Cabinet appointments
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
04/10/09
POC Thomas L. Knapp
admin@shadowcabinet.us
ST. LOUIS, April 10 — Thomas L. Knapp, libertarian presidential candidate and creator of the “Libertarian Shadow Cabinet” project, announced the appointment of three new cabinet officials — and his intent to separate the shadow cabinet project from his presidential campaign — this morning.
“This project is intended to serve the entire libertarian movement, including its two political parties,” says Knapp. “I’m seeking an administrator for the project who isn’t associated with any campaign and who’s willing to commit to keeping the project going beyond this election cycle.”
New appointees include:
Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency: Brian Holtz of California. Holtz received a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Southern Mississippi Honors College (1987), and an M.S. in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Michigan (1990). Since 1990 he has been a developer of Internet software, first at Sun Microsystems and currently at Yahoo. He has been principal inventor on three software patents with two more pending. He serves on the board of the Purissima Hills Water District in Los Altos Hills, Calif., and on the scientific advisory board of the Lifeboat Foundation, which is dedicated to helping humanity survive existential risks. As secretary of the 2008 LP Platform Committee he successfully championed the adoption of a platform rewrite that included its first mentions of ecosystems and climate change. His vision of green libertarianism is summarized in his Free Earth Manifesto.
Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Jim Davidson of Kansas. Davidson has been a space enthusiast since 1968, active in the private space migration movement since 1977, and involved in many
start-up space ventures since 1986. He has worked with NASA contractors, astronauts, and Russia’s space industry. He has long held the view that NASA should be eliminated and its assets returned to the private sector.
Secretary of Homeland Security: Steve Newton, Ph.D., USA/VA National Guard MSgt. (Ret.) of Delaware. Newton is a Professor of History and Political Science at Delaware State University, author of numerous books on military history and national security consultant. As consultant for the Office for Domestic Preparedness in 2002, he developed and delivered the two-week course “Introduction to Terrorism” for State and Local Preparedness Officers.
Appeasement is the Disease; Freedom is the Cure
“Government doesn’t work. It doesn’t keep our streets safe and it doesn’t educate our children. Government is good at only one thing: It breaks your legs, hands you a pair of crutches, and says, ‘See, without us you wouldn’t be able to walk.’”
— Harry Browne, Libertarian
Recently, I observed that paying taxes on medical marijuana was immoral, unconstitutional and “would provide law enforcement with a new quiver of charges against us.”
Some of my activist friends disagreed, arguing that Obama had “changed” federal policy and we were in a new era. The next day a dispensary in San Francisco was raided by federal DEA agents, based upon their alleged failure to pay all of their state taxes.
Some of the best minds in our movement support taxes, admitting it is really protection money, because, in their view, paying bullies to leave you alone is a viable option. Anyone who has ever dealt with a bully, be it in the schoolyard or the criminal justice system, knows that placating and appeasing only increases the threats and bullying.
The appeasers argue that we must be “realistic,” and that we must “change the system from within.” They say we must give up some of our rights, in order to be safe and to create peaceful change. They urge us from one beg-a-thon to the next, imploring us to write the ruling class and beg for leniency. The even cut deals, behind our backs, trading away our rights for their agenda of “regulation and taxation.”
The other day, I had breakfast with the founder and operator of a dispensary that pays $100,000 a month in taxes. She was telling me how Betty Yee of the California Franchise Tax Board was telling the DEA to back off. I asked if the $100 million in taxes being paid annually by licenses dispensaries, on the backs of sick people might not be better spent buying us, I mean electing, a Governor and Attorney General. She had no answer.
Whatever short terms gains appeasers think they might be winning, they betray us all by cooperating with an unconstitutional rogue government.
Appeasement doesn’t work, not when you are in a cultural war with real bullets and the biggest Gulag in the world.
Freedom works. Free choice, free markets and free minds, that is what we can place our trust in, everything else is the road to Hell.
Saving the World will never be easier or less expensive then NOW
Last week, Gulf Onshore, a publicly traded, over-the-counter, oil leasing company acquired the assets of Cannex Therapeutics, a cannabis research and development company that was started by Dr. Robert Melamede, Richard Cowan and yours truly.
In simple terms, the owners of Gulf have decided to exit the oil business, sell off their oil leases and merge with Cannex. For them, our venture is just the ticket for an environmentally friendly, 21st century company. Best of all, we acquired controlling interest and, with their full support, replaced their team with ours.
Hopefully, people will appreciate that in merging our two companies, we recycled an ugly old oil company, into a cannabis-friendly company instead. Fox News and other financial networks covered the event, as did Bio Century, a $4,000 per year trade magazine for the biotech industry.
Meanwhile, many of my Libertatrian friends were left scratching their heads and wondering, “Are these guys nuts? They’ll NEVER get FDA approval for their cannabis-based medicines.”
Of course, when we explain our plan, the lights go on and people understand why we are confident we can succeed.
For example, the FDA has already approved phase 3 human trials of another cannabis based product by a pharmaceutical company. We believe our product is very similar in formulation and much more effective. In fact, we conducted tests in Canada that confirmed that our product was more desirable. However, the important point here is that the precedent has already been established for us.
Another objection that we hear is that our venture is too risky and uncertain. 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 safe that would have looked!
Meanwhile, in the real world, we attempted to launch our new endeavor, while we confronted a stock market crash and a collapse of the credit markets. Despite such overwhelming challenges, we have persevered and we have made business history.
So, for us, right now, acquiring a publicly traded company is a significant accomplishment, not just for us, but for all who believe in this miraculous, healing herb.
Everyone congratulates us, but then they go out of their way to inform me that the odds are just too staggering for me to pull this off. Well, excuse me, but I have a proven track record of repeatedly defying enormous odds and still succeeding:
–No one has ever survived my form of cancer for more than a few years, yet this is my 35th year of surviving this deadly disease and cannabis is the only medicine I use. For most of those 35 years people laughed at me when I told them the cannabis was keeping my cancer under control. Today, our company has a database of 510 scientific, peer-reviewed studies showing that cannabinoids kill cancer cells.
–No one believed me when I promised to deliver the half million dollars we needed to collect signatures and qualify Prop. 215 for the ballot, but I did. Everyone said we would never succeed, but I knew we had the polling numbers and the element of surprise. I told our wealthy sponsors, “It will never be easier or less expensive than NOW.” Fortunately, they listened and gave us the money.
–No one believed I could fight off 19 felony charges with a minimum of 40 years in prison, but I did AND so did you, because you supported my battle with the Blue Meanies and many of you even contributed to my defense fund.
–No one, not even my closest friends and family, believed me when I insisted that I would ultimately be vindicated, my convictions dismissed, and my record expunged, yet that is exactly what came to pass.
As you can see, I have an extraordinary track record of overcoming seemingly impossible odds. I ask that you respect my track record and join our venture. Vote with your wallet, so we can work together to show the world that we mean business. Even if you are only investing $100 through an online brokerage site, you’ll still be making a statement and you’ll be investing in a prosperous future of your own values and beliefs.
It amazes me how excited my friends and fellow activist become about paying the government $100 million in taxes. How about creating a $100 million cannabis-based medicine company instead? Personally, I find that far more exciting and creative.
Can we actually create a viable, cannabis-based pharmaceutical company with FDA approved medicines that are nontoxic, organic, and highly effective? All I can tell you is what I tell everyone else:
“It will never be easier or less expensive then NOW.”
If it would be a suitable investment for you, we are a publicly traded, over-the-counter (Bulletin Board, not Pink Sheets) stock, you can look us up with our current symbol NASD OTCBB: GFON and invest and own a stake in a future world where cannabis is accepted and approved for medical use.
But what about the name? Don’t worry, we will be announcing a change in the company name to Cannabis Science Inc. (CSI), later this week.
Company announces genetically modified microbe that converts petroleum into pure THC
For just a few pennies, a new company can turn a 55 gallon drum of crude oil directly into medical grade THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. The key is a new, genetically modified microbe that produces an enzyme called, “THC acid synthase” that converts the petroleum into tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid (THC-COOH).
The enzymatic condensation from the petroleum, when mixed with olivetolic acid, produces cannabigerolic acid, which is cyclized by the enzyme THC acid synthase to give THC-COOH. Heating decarboxylates the acid to into pure, medical grade THC.
The new microbes also work on oil spills, as well on animals affected by spills. In one test conducted by the company, a flock of terns, covered with oil, were treated with the new bug. Scientific analysis conducted 24 hours later confirmed that all birds were healthy and not one tern was left unstoned.
Well, maybe someday.
Until then: Happy April Fools Day!
How Libertarians knew the Crash was coming.
These days, everyone is an economist. However, few people can claim to have predicted the economic crisis, as I did. Back in 1995, when I wrote the Politics of Consciousness, I penned a chapter called “Voodoo Economics.” What I said on page 34 is certainly prescient: “The specter of another Great Depression hangs ominously over our country: massive homelessness, record bank failures, excessive wealth, and widespread poverty.”
Of course, I wasn’t alone. Most of my fellow libertarians also saw this coming, because most of us are students of real economics, as taught by the Austrian School, not the Voodoo Economics of British economist John Maynard Keynes.
Keynesian economics argues that private sector decisions sometimes lead to inefficient macroeconomic outcomes, and therefore advocates active policy responses by the public sector, including monetary policy actions by the central bank and fiscal policy actions by the government, to stabilize output over the business cycle. In other words, a centrally planned and managed economy.
Governments love the Voodoo Economics of Keynesian witch doctors. The idea that you can fix all the harm caused by government, by expanding the role and size of government is what gets economist fat salaries as government advisors. Nobody wants to hear about real economics, because that inevitably leads to government having to downsize.
Like research on marijuana, the government already knows what it wants to hear from its experts.
Denying the Punishment Culture the Consent of the Victim
Happy anniversary for all who supported my battle to uphold Prop. 215 in court. It was eight years ago that I publicly refused probation, denounced Placer County’s corrupt and unconstitutional abuse of me and other medical marijuana patients, and headed off to produce the Pot TV News in British Columbia.
A lot of people were shocked that I took such a hardcore attitude, but I considered the goons responsible for the home invasion that traumatized my family, to be terrorists and therefore no negotiations or concessions were acceptable to me. Given that the bogus convictions against me have been dismissed and my record expunged, I believe my hardcore tactics have been fully vindicated.
Richard Cowan understood the underlying ideological significance of my refusal to accept probation and wrote an epic essay on, “Denying the Punishment Culture the Consent of the Victim.” His essay appears immediately after this note, followed by my letter to the Placer County Probation Dept.
I did end up serving some probation after my release from jail, but it was on my terms, without any electronic monitoring and with full protection for my right to grow and possess as much damned medical cannabis as I felt I needed.
Again, thank you for making this victory possible.
-SK
http://marijuananews.com/blog/medical-marijuana/kubby-refuses-to-agree-to-terms-of-probation-denying-the-punishment-culture-the-consent-of-the-victim/#hide
Originally Posted March 21, 2001
Kubby Refuses to Agree to Terms of Probation. Denying the Punishment Culture the Consent of the Victim.
MarijuanaNews note: A typical characteristic of tyranny is the practice of demanding the consent of the victims of the government’s denial of their rights. It is not enough to deprive them of their lives and liberty. The victims of Stalin’s 1930s show trials had to denounce their own beliefs, or confess to having had the beliefs of which they were accused, however falsely, in order to spare their families, or at least to win a quick and painless death.
Today in DEAland people convicted of “drug crimes” have to express their remorse and be grateful for merely outrageous sentences. Through this obsequy the defendants may also spare their family from prosecution or loss of their homes.
By doing this, they confirm the judgment of the state that the use of marijuana is on a moral par with the violations of the rights of others, while the state violates the most basic of human rights. Thus moral reality is inverted. Good is called evil and true evil is exalted.
The regime uses these statements as proof of its moral superiority over its victims and as the basis of its legitimacy. However, the damage goes far beyond the loss ofliberty, which ultimately will be regained. What cannot be so easily regained is the moral status of the individuals who have participated in this. To paraphrase Browning, whatof the soul is left, I wonder, when the lying has to stop?
In his Gulag Archipelago Alexander Solzhenitsyn said that all that was necessary for the collapse of the tyranny was for the lying to stop. However the lying about which he spoke was not that of the regime, which would never stop, but that of itsvictims.
Lincoln said that to witness a crime in silence is to commit it, but how can we describe the process of forcing the victim of the crime to cheer his own victimization? Thus a person who was innocent of any real crime becomes complicit in the crime committed against him. This is moral suicide.
There have always been two conflicting elements in American culture. We like to celebrate the tradition of individual freedom enshrined in the Declaration ofIndependence and the Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights. However, in practice there is a much darker side descended from Puritanism, but really inherent in the human fear and hatred of the “different.”
Combine the moral pretensions of Puritanism with the political ambitions and economic interests of the law enforcement apparatus and we have the Punishment Culture. In the Punishment Culture the consent of the victim is primary. It is both a means to an end and end in itself. It is essential to the operation of the system and is the “moral” basis of the Punishment Culture.
Punishment has become a huge industry with its vested interests that buy politicians. Perhaps the most bizarre manifestation of this phenomenon is the power of the California Prison Guards Union which has become one of the largest political contributors in the state.
Of course, even the Drug War cannot afford to lock up all of its victims, so beyond the prison walls there is the vast apparatus of “court supervision,” probation, parole, and of course, “drug testing” and the “rehabilitation” industry.
All of this depends on the compliance of its victims.
Now comes Steve Kubby.
At first, he was understandably relieved at being acquitted of the most serious charges and tended to shrug off the relatively minor charges of which he was convicted.
However, when he had time to think about what was really happening, it was clear that he was being drawn into the moral cesspool of the Punishment Culture. And now he has just said NO! He is not going to consent to their terms. He is not going to ransom his freedom with his honor.
Below is a letter that he sent today to the Chief Probation Officer. It is a remarkable statement by a man who is simply putting his life on the line.
The late Peter McWilliams quoted the abolitionist Frederick Douglass,
“Find out just what the people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both.
The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
From Steve Kubby
steve@kubby.com
March 21, 2001
Norma Suzuki
Chief Probation Officer
11564 C Avenue, DeWitt Center
Auburn, CA 95603
Phone: 530-889-7900
Fax: 530-889-7950
Email (prodept@placer.ca.gov)
RE: Refusal to agree to terms of probation
Dear Ms. Suzuki,
After several weeks of attempting to qualify for alternative sentencing, I find that I am unable to physically, financially, or morally complete electronic monitoring,probation, or payment of any fines assessed against me. At the time I was offered probation, I believed I could comply.
However, as I found out the extent of the restrictions and the cost, my wife and I came to the decision that our family could not survive and I would be under even more threat than before, if I were to accept the terms of probation.
This letter is to inform you that if I do not find judicial relief, I intend to show up for my jail date April 10th, 2001. Below are the details of the reasons for my decision:
I refuse to pay the fine or probation fines that have been ordered, because the police and prosecutors bankrupted my family by falsely arresting me for growing medical marijuana. Because I cannot grow marijuana, I am forced to spend thousands of dollars each month on the black market, just to stay alive.
I refuse to agree to house arrest, because I cannot find a house in which to serve my arrest. My wife and I were forced into bankruptcy by this raid, after a lifetime of excellent credit. Now, nobody wants to rent to us since we are unemployed and have bad credit. This leaves us no alternative but to send my wife and the two small children, back to British Columbia, where we have a home, business and friends. Thus, I would be forced to serve out my home detention on my own, without my family or caretaker/wife.
Under the terms of electronic monitoring, I would only be allowed 2 hours a week to go out and shop. Without a caregiver and car, I can’t do that, because I need such a specialized diet. Also, I would be unable to exercise each day, as required by my illness in order to avoid dangerous or lethal buildups of adrenaline. (My doctors have testified under oath that I could drop dead at any time from a stroke or heart attack, so these heath concerns are no small matter.
I refuse to serve three years of formal probation, because I’ve learned that a person on probation has no rights, and it would only be a matter of time before a medical pot patient like me would be visited by police exercising their “right” to a warrantless probation search.
Despite proving myself innocent of all marijuana charges, I believe that my wife and I have never received justice or protection for lawfully asserting rights we helped to win in an open democratic election. Instead, probation would place a suffocating layer of hoops and threats upon us, which further endangers me and my family.
I believe that sentencing me, when I am medically disabled and suffering from terminal cancer, two conditions that threaten my life, for misdemeanor possession of a mushroom stem and some tiny cactus buttons, not only needlessly endangers me and burdens my family, such a sentence is a violation of my Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment.
As a result of my decision, I am hereby notifying the Placer County ProbationDepartment that I refuse to agree to any of the terms for my probation electronic monitoring, or the payment of any fines.
I have spoken to Terry Franchimone, your Probation Manager regarding these issues. Mr. Franchimone was actually very understanding and helpful. After some discussion of the matter, I told Mr. Franchimone that I intend to bring a motion in front ofJudge John L. Cosgrove to spell out these issues. Because we are broke, I will have to write and present the motion myself.
However, I am optimistic.
In fairness to Judge Cosgrove, the prosecutors in our case withheld their decision to request a full dismissal of all marijuana charges until after the judge gave his sentence. If the Placer County District Attorney is now saying that the marijuana charges cannot be prosecuted, I’m going to ask the judge to throw out my convictions, because the police had no business being in my house to begin with.
It seems to me that if we were lawfully asserting rights, for a law we helped to pass, and the District Attorney has failed to show any marijuana crime ever took place, accepting any form of probation would be a violation of everything we and this country stands for.
Finally, I refuse to comply with the terms of probation, because of my profound belief that the threat of jail is being held over my head to coerce me into “voluntary compliance” with a criminal justice system that is broken.
The law that my wife and I helped pass was easy enough for the voters ofCalifornia and the jurors of Placer County to understand. Only narcotics officers, prosecutors, and others who benefit from the drug war have difficulty understanding a law that grants new rights. I find it amazing how difficult it is for people to understand something when their careers depend upon them NOT understanding it.
I understand that I have until April 10th to comply with sentencing instructions and that after that, I will be “subject to immediate arrest, imprisonment and denial of any medical marijuana.”
Naturally my wife and I find such prospects distressing, especially since my life is on the line, but we will continue to stand on our principles and Constitutional rights. I wrote a book called ‘The Politics of Consciousness,’ that salutes the courageous people who helped fight tyranny during the early days of the American Revolution. My final statement about refusing probation is best summed up by words uttered centuries ago by one of those early Americans who gave their life to defeat tyrants:
“Give me liberty, or give me death.”
Let freedom grow,
Steve Kubby
Cc: Sheriff Ed Bonner
Frank Wolff, KCRA Sacramento
Matt Robinson, FOX News
Eric Baily, Los Angeles Times
Alan Bock, Orange County Register
Wayne Wilson, Sacramento Bee
Henri Lee, San Francisco Chronicle
Tom Elias, Washington Times
Deric Roth, Auburn Journal
Joel Miller, WorldNetDaily
And other distinguished members of the media.
Calif Med MJ Laws No Longer Conflict With Federal Law
Within the past year, we’ve seen several key developments that have further defined a clear legal distinction between state and federal laws regarding medical marijuana.
Now, according to US Attorney General Eric Holder, California Attorney General Jerry Brown, California Courts, and even the US Supreme Court which let stand the lower court decisions, there is no conflict between state and federal laws regarding the medical use of marijuana.
Here is how California AG, Jerry Brown explained it in his official “GUIDELINES FOR THE SECURITY AND NON-PERSION OF MARIJUANA GROWN FOR MEDICAL USE,” released in August of 2008:
“The incongruity between federal and state law has given rise to understandable confusion, but no legal conflict exists merely because state law and federal law treat marijuana differently. Indeed, California’s medical marijuana laws have been challenged unsuccessfully in court on the ground that they are preempted by the CSA. (County of San Diego v. San Diego NORML (July 31, 2008) — Cal.Rptr.3d —, 2008 WL 2930117.) Congress has provided that states are free to regulate in the area of controlled substances, including marijuana, provided that state law does not positively conflict with the CSA. (21 U.S.C. § 903.) Neither Proposition 215, nor the MMP, conflict with the CSA because, in adopting these laws, California did not “legalize” medical marijuana, but instead exercised the state’s reserved powers to not punish certain marijuana offenses under state law when a physician has recommended its use to treat a serious medical condition. (See City of Garden Grove v. Superior Court (Kha) (2007) 157 Cal.App.4th 355, 371-373, 381-382.)
It has taken over a decade for the courts to finally see things our way, but the bravery and determination of our patients, caregivers, providers, MCDs, activists, attorneys, doctors, nurses and financial supporters has brought us VICTORY!
Yes, there is still much to be done, and we can never rest until all the cannabis POWs are freed, but we are finally tasting a major victory and the time has come for us to celebrate.
US AG Declares Ending DEA MMJ Raids Now US Policy
Speaking at a press conference with DEA administrator Michelle Leonhart, Attorney General Eric Holder declared that ending medical marijuana raids “is now American policy.”
A reporter asked, “shortly after the inauguration there were raids on California medical marijuana dispensaries…do you expect these to continue?”, noting that the President had promised to end the raids in the campaign.
Holder responded, “What the President said during the campaign…is consistent with what we will be doing here in law enforcement. He was my boss in the campaign….He is my boss now. What he said in the campaign is now American policy.”
The question appears about 25 minutes into the press conference, which was devoted to an operation against the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel.
“This is an enormous event that many sick, disabled and dying patients have waited a lifetime to witness. For medical cannabis patients, 2/25 now joins 4/20 as a national holiday that will be celebrated for years to come,” proclaimed Steve Kubby, Director of the American Medical Marijuana Association.