Sen. Leahy Schedules Marijuana Hearing, Wants State Laws Respected

[bigtree]

Roll Call ?@rollcall 2m
Leahy Schedules Marijuana Hearing, Wants State Laws Respected http://bit.ly/14xXRPC via @nielslesniewski

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy will hold a hearing on marijuana policy after the Senate returns and said Monday that state laws legalizing the drug “should be respected.”

The Vermont Democrat’s inviting Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and Deputy Attorney General James Cole to testify at the Sept. 10 hearing. Presumably expecting a large audience, Leahy has scheduled the hearing in the oversized hearing room in the Hart Senate Office Building that is used for major events such as Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

“It is important, especially at a time of budget constraints, to determine whether it is the best use of federal resources to prosecute the personal or medicinal use of marijuana in states that have made such consumption legal,” Leahy said in a statement. “I believe that these state laws should be respected. At a minimum, there should be guidance about enforcement from the federal government.”

The announcement of the hearing, which will focus on conflicts between state and federal laws, follows last week’s statement by White House spokesman Josh Earnest that President Barack Obama has yet to change his view on the issue of legalized marijuana use.

“The president acknowledged that, the priority here — the priority in terms of the dedication of law enforcement resources should be targeted toward our drug kingpins, drug traffickers and others who perpetrate violence in the conduct of the drug trade, that that is the best use of our law enforcement resources,” Earnest said. “At the same time, the president does not — you know, at this point, advocate a change in the law.”

That statement came in response to a question that came one day after a CQ Roll Call reporter brought up the subject at the daily White House press briefing.


read: http://blogs.rollcall.com/wgdb/leahy-schedules-marijuana-hearing-wants-state-laws-respected/

[Jackpine Radical]

1. The majority of the public now favors legalization--

despite decades of the combined best efforts of the DEA, ATF, drug companies, etc.

The fact that it is still illegal in the face of the public will shows how little democracy we really have.

Back in the 60's & 70's, I always suspected that the anti-pot hysteria was part of the government's efforts to suppress the anti-war movement.

As one example, at Ft. Hood, TX there was a little antiwar newspaper published via mimeograph (remember those?) on post. The CID could never manage to bust the people putting it out with Army paper & ink, but they had figured out the identity of the most likely culprit and eventually managed to bust him on pot possession. It was an interesting trial. They claimed to have found a single pot seed in his pocket; and said the seed had been destroyed in the process of analysis. All the evidence they had to present at the court martial was a lab report. Naturally, they got a conviction.

I also think that a lot of young people got their minds expanded by various substances, and the Nixonites saw pot, acid, etc. as substances that twisted young people into Enemies of the State.

The initial pot criminalization campaign began in the 20's & 30's, driven by a cabal of corporate interests and law-enforcement types looking for more criminals to prosecute. Since then, a whole lot more interests got involved. The DEA became an empire unto itself with billions pouring in for guns, helicopters and similar neat toys, the prison industry has grown immensely thanks to pot laws, local Barney Fifes discovered new sources of lucre in confiscating property, the drug companies certainly don't want the public to have unrestricted access to an essentially harmless substance that comes as close to being a panacea as pot does, etc.

There is hardly a more clear-cut example of a conflict between the interest of the public good and the perverse interests of the Corporate State than can be found in the Administration's intransigent pot policies.

[bigtree]

2. once they figure how to get their cut of the profits

. . . they'll virtually be rolling up the blunts and lighting them for us.

[Jackpine Radical]

4. Yeah, we can no doubt get Phillip Morris on our side.

But I think Smith Glaxo Swine will be a harder sell.

[bigtree]

6. if we can get an honest (recognized) study

. . . we can certainly find pot less of a risk than most of their over-the-counter meds.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

5. When Monsanto claims to have the right to cannabis.

Toke with us or not at all.

[bigtree]

10. pot is the internet of medicines

. . . there's a brief opportunity to carve out a sensible approach to regulation, taxation, control, etc. Unfortunately, there's also an open door to regulating it beyond our reach. Though, I have to think, with all of the different strains and varieties . . . it's going to be hard to nail down ownership of one or the other.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

15. Monsanto crops cross contaminate legitimate crops miles and miles away, and when that happens

Monsanto sues the owner of the now compromised but once legitimate crops with patent violations.

Can't happen you say?

[mucifer]

33. Pot is a tool in the tool box. There are lots of helpful meds out there.

But, doctors should have the right to prescribe it.

[hobbit709]

7. The Oleo Strut.

[Jackpine Radical]

8. The Oleo Strut was a coffee house in Killeen, TX;

I remember it well. I even developed one or 2 of the antiwar skits that were staged there.

[hobbit709]

9. It was also the paper passed around.

[Jackpine Radical]

11. Are you sure?

I remember the Fatigue Press, & the editor who was busted was named Richard Peterson.

But then it was 45 years ago, and my memory ain't gettin' any better.

[hobbit709]

12. I'd have to double check but I'm pretty sure.

I know some of the people who were involved at the time.

[Jackpine Radical]

13. I just did Google it & found a very interesting story, to wit:

http://www.sirnosir.com/archives_and_resources/library/articles/ally_30.html

Here are a few paragraphs. I do see my memory played me false in one respect at least; it was Bruce, not Richard, Peterson who was busted. Although arrested by the Killeen cops, he was turned over to the Army for trial.

OTHER HAPPENINGS: The movement it Fort Hood is not confined to the black GIs on base. The white GIs have been getting their shit together, too, with the help of the civilian organizers at the Oleo Strut Coffeehouse in nearby Killeen. In July, a mimeographed underground paper, the "Fatigue Press" was begun, telling it like it is and putting the brass uptight. On September 7, the founder and editor, Bruce Petersen, was arrested by the Killeen Police on a phony marijuana possession charge. (See "Anti-war GI Editor Gets Eight Years.&quot

In addition to public anti-war work by GIs (picnic, Teach-In, etc.), the men at Ft. Hood have been engaged in active organizing on-base. They distribute copies of the "Fatigue Press," "Vietnam GI," and "The Ally," plus other anti-war literature; this has made the brass very uptight, and several men have been caught with "subversive literature" in their lockers during shakedowns which now occur on a daily basis. In addition, the men have distributed over 3,000 copies of a sticker showing a white hand in the V" with a black fist. The stickers have been put up In every conceivable place, on officers' bumpers, in telephone booths, on tanks, on buildings, etc. This has blown the brass' mind; Ml originally thought the sticker symbolized "white victory over black power." When they found out it meant people, get your shit together!" they got very shook.

OLEO STRUT HARASSED: Civilian organizers In Killeen - an "Army Town" if there ever was one - have also been subject to harassment and attempts at reIrosslon for their activities. On August 23, 5 members of the staff were arrested for marijuana possession. Four were released that day, but Josh Gould, manager of the Strut, was held on $50,000 ball, later reduced. So far though the Boll County Grand Jury has met twice, his case has not been brought before It, and It appears that the authorities are reluctant to bring out the dirty wash in court. Attempts to close the Oleo Strut as a "public nuisance," which were dependent upon the conviction of Gould to establish their "legitimacy," have stopped, and the Strut continues to operate on a wing and a prayer, existing by keeping the various forces of authority and repression off balance so that they cannot work in concert.

[Jackpine Radical]

14. Here are details of the Peterson bust & trial:

Pvt Bruce Peterson, better known as the Gypsy, former editor of Fatigue Press, GI paper at Ft. Hood, twice got busted for alleged possession of pot. On Aug. 23, 1968, he was arrested with five other people., while driving a friends car. They were stopped on the basis of supposed information passed to the Killeen, Texas, Police Dept. by the Dallas Bureau of Drugs and Narcotics Abuse that the car had been used for the transportation of drugs. The owner of the car was not questioned and the other 5 people in the car were quickly released. Only the Gypsy was held for questioning.

2 weeks later, he was picked up by the police in front of the Oleo Strut GI Coffee House for being a "suspicious person". The reason given and accepted at the trial for his arrest was that he had "bushy hair, dirty sneakers and a mustache". Then, because he was a known drug user (remember he had been accused, but not tried two weeks earlier) he was searched by the pigs. The lint from his pockets was sent to the MP center at Ft. Gordon and he was held on $25,000 bail. Naturally, the civilians and the brass had been together on the whole thing and his case was turned over to the military.

The law clearly states that without any. evidence there cannot be a trial, much less a conviction. Yet, in Gypsy's case, this didn't seem to matter. Mysteriouly, the so-called marijuana in the lint of his pockets was destroyed in the process of analyzing it. The "quantity of marijuana" was so small that it all was destroyed and NOTHING WAS LEFT AS EVIDENCE

Unhampered by such small considerations, the Army sentenced him to 8 years confinement at hard labor, a DD, and forfeiture of all pay and allowances. His sentence was graciously reduced to a mere 6 years upon review.

[blackspade]

24. +1000

Dupont was instrumental in pot criminalization.
They really wanted to destroy the hemp paper and textile market in favor of their new chemical paper bleaching processes and synthetic fibers.
Hemp made a brief comeback during WWII before it's cultivation was recriminalized.
It amazes me that with all of the crisis going on that Hemp wouldn't be viewed as a viable cash crop these days.
Such is the power of the corporations.....

[Jackpine Radical]

25. Also WR Hearst, for much rhe same set of reasons.

His newspaper empire had invested heavily in wood pulp forests & didn't want competition in paper making.

[blackspade]

29. Thanks, I had forgotten about him.

[cali]

3. Good. we need some high profile hearings

Glad Pat is on this.

He's done a lot of good for this country in his long Senate career.

[99th_Monkey]

16. Good on Sen. Leahy! It's about time. K&R. ~nt~

[beerandjesus]

17. Soon we just might see if the baggers are the 'libertarians' they claim they are...

...Sens. Paul and Cruz, will you be leading the charge?

[Blue Owl]

18. More Leahy; Less Reefer Madness

n/t

[Mopar151]

19. Sen Lahey is an American hero.

Endorsed by his Republican opponent? Only Pat, only in Vermont......
Fred Tuttle was an awesome, hilarious man who ran in the Vermont Republican senate primary against Jack McMullen who came up from Massachusetts for the express purpose of running for Senate against Democratic senator Pat Leahy. McMullen blanketed the airwaves with ads for himself, and generally threw around money in an unVermont way. Fred won the primary, (by outing McMullen as a "flatlander" on a Vt Public Radio show), announced he was voting for Leahy, and created hilarious videos like this one. People put "Spread Fred" bumper stickers on their cars. (some of this excerpted from the YouToob comments)

[cali]

21. we agree on something. and yes, that election season was too much fun

the debate where fred asked mcmullen how many teats on a cow and how you pronounced calais was epic.

But Jeffords wasn't crazy. He was a wonderful guy and a good Senator.

[Mopar151]

23. Wasn't me calling him crazy. Jim Jeffords is anything but. n/t

[livingwagenow]

20. K&R from an HIV+ medicinal pot user. MMJ keeps me alive by boosting my appetite and ..

by keeping my HIV-related nausea at bay.

[Dustlawyer]

22. I suffer from small fiber sensory neuropathy, one of the poster children for medical pot.

I take Opana, Lyrica, Tramodal, and Tizanadine for this chronic, extremely painful disease. The meds I take make me sleepy, bloated, confused, memory loss... I am sure I just failed my piss test an hour ago b/c pot at night when the pain is the worst is the ONLY thing that takes the pain away. Even Opana, which is listed up with Morphine and OxyContin does not take most of my pain away. I am told that I will always have pain and that I have to live with it. These politicians have no idea of the agony I experience daily, nor the brief respite I get after a couple of puffs. The stuff they prescribe me is highly addictive and bad for my liver, yet I can have those, but not marihuana.
Texas will be one of the last states to legalize pot for people like me. I don't know what they are going to do about my test, but I almost don't care. I guess I will have to either be in excruciating pain for the rest of my life (I turn 50 in 2 weeks), or be a scofflaw who has to sneak around and go without every 3 months to pass a stupid test. What are they afraid of, that I will eat too many Doritos after medicating?
Any Texas doctors reading this, please advise! I hurt bad 24/7/365 and I am really tired of all of the bullshit.

[cali]

26. hey, sorry to hear that.

I have CRPS type II (complex regional pain syndrome) which is, I believe, related. It was the result of a nasty accident- I smashed my leg to pieces. I so hear you when you say you're in pain 24/7. I'm in the same place. I've had all kinds of treatments from spinal nerve blocks to Lyrica, gabapentin, morphine, opiates, physical therapy, etc. It sucks.

If pot helps you, smoke it. I find opiates give me the best relief when it starts to become unbearable.

Good luck.

[Warren DeMontague]

27. Good for Pat Leahy.

Watch the Administration 1) turn it into a joke and 2) blow it off, in that order.

[Hekate]

34. Let me translate for you: PBO said loud and clear that...

... federal efforts should be going toward violent criminals and drug cartels.

“The president acknowledged that, the priority here — the priority in terms of the dedication of law enforcement resources should be targeted toward our drug kingpins, drug traffickers and others who perpetrate violence in the conduct of the drug trade, that that is the best use of our law enforcement resources,” Earnest said.

What Leahy is doing is the next logical step in cleaning up the persecution and criminalization of individuals. It HAS to come from Congress.

What we've seen is that issues are set up step by step. Obama said his views on gay marriage were "evolving," which imo meant "I'm not opposed." DOMA was sent through the legal process, and then was gone. DADT went through the process, and part of that was having the military go through the motions of "studying the impact" of overturning DADT. Of course the study showed there would be no discernible impact from overturning DADT. Then DADT was gone.

Obama announced he had finished "evolving" on gay marriage --

Marriage was next. It was announced that federal employees were to receive marriage benefits. The military announced that gay marriage would be fully recognized by them and if it was illegal where personnel were stationed they would receive leave to go get married where it is legal. These are the two areas that the POTUS has some control over -- not Mississippi, not Montana, not individual states. However, this is huge because under the full faith and credit clause of the Constitution this will spread to the nation.

You think any of this happened without Obama's knowledge and consent? He's a process kind of guy, a lawyer who knows that if you nail the law down it is much more likely to be permanent.

Now we've got marijuana. The President said what he said above, plus: “At the same time, the president does not — you know, at this point, advocate a change in the law.” Somehow what I'm hearing is more like he's "not opposed to a change regarding individuals" framed as "what a waste of money going after individuals."

Based on past performance, it looks to me like a process is beginning, and it's beginning where it has to: in Congress. If we get off our asses and send Democrats to Congress next year, we will have a better than even chance of major changes taking place. You think any of it will happen without his knowledge?

[Warren DeMontague]

35. And I think it's going to be like LGBT marriage equality, where the people will need to lead because

certain leaders aren't brave enough to get out in front of it first.

And yes, the process is underway. The clock is ticking on pot prohibition, as much as unrepentant drug warriors may wish it were not. But it has been fought tooth-and-nail; with a TON of duplicity- by this Administration. There are a lot of areas where I enthusiastically support this Administration, and many others where I'm willing to cut an inordinate amount of slack. But the drug war? Medical Marijunana? The continued busts of collectives, caregivers, patients?

It's inexcusable. Yes, I expect that there is evolution going on. And like LGBT equality, better late than never. But still, at this late date, when we are still seeing sick people hassled by SWAT teams...

you don't have to tell me the importance of voting for Democrats. Like the Terminator, it's what I do. It's ALL I do. But I can walk and chew gum and call a moral travesty a moral travesty at the same time. And Obama can't run again. No electoral chances are harmed by us holding his feet to the fire, as he has urged us to do.

By the way, you can read that recent Administration statement a number of ways: Another way to read it is; "sure, we don't have the budget resources to lock up all 40 million pot smokers right now, but if we get more flush with cash (and the drug war is nothing, if not a fun $$$ taxpayer $$$ gravy train) then we reserve the right to do so- sure, why not?"

[Warren DeMontague]

36. Also, the Admin. has made it clear that they think a chemo granny with a pot plant in her basement

qualifies as a "drug trafficker"

[greiner3]

28. Holy Crap Batman;

But at first glance I thought the 'ghost' of Cheney was following President Obama!

[bigtree]

30. .

[RainDog]

31. great news!!

mark your calendars - Sept. 2013.

let's hope it's historic in a good way.

[RainDog]

32. I cross posted this subject in the drug policy forum

thank you for the heads up!