Cannabis Freedom » Police State

Prohibition (still) doesn’t work. Someone should tell Egypt.

Ganja Blue — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:37:08 +0000

I swear I’ve heard this before. “If this thing enters Egypt, the country is going to go to waste. God protect us,”

via The Associated Press: Egyptian lawmakers want to ban fake hymen. (no, I’m not kidding)

HT: Radley Balko

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Prohibition (still) doesn’t work. Someone should tell Egypt.

Anti-Drug Aid Delayed as Leahy Blocks Positive Report on Mexico’s Rights Record – washingtonpost.com It’s good to see someone in the senate will stand...

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Anti-Drug Aid Delayed as Leahy Blocks Positive Report on Mexico’s Rights Record – washingtonpost.com

Ganja Blue — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:22:04 +0000

It’s good to see someone in the senate will stand for human rights every once in a while:

The State Department intended to send the favorable report on Mexico’s human rights record to Congress in advance of President Obama’s visit to Guadalajara for a summit of North American leaders this weekend, U.S. officials familiar with the report said.

That plan was scrapped after aides to Sen. Patrick J. Leahy D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Appropriations foreign operations subcommittee, told State Department officials that the findings contradicted reports of human rights violations in Mexico, including torture and forced disappearances, in connection with the drug war.

via Anti-Drug Aid Delayed as Leahy Blocks Positive Report on Mexico’s Rights Record – washingtonpost.com.

HT Radley Balko

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Cheye Calvo Interview – Mayor Terrorized by Swat Team Drug Raid

Ganja Blue — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:36:00 +0000

On July 29th the mayor of Berwyn Heights, Maryland, Cheye Calvo was victimized twice. Mayor Calvo was the victim of a marijuana trafficking scheme where packages are dropped by delivery drivers, in this case UPS, and the package is then stolen off the porch by drug dealers. The raiding police then murdered the mayor’s two Labrador retrievers in the process of serving a standard drug warrant.

The police were supposed to knock at the door and announce themselves. Instead they entered the home by force acting as if the warrant had the required “no-knock” clause. The incompetent police have been exonerated of any wrongdoing. Mayor Calvo was recently interviewed by the Cato Institute. You can listen to the interview below.

For more information on no-knock raids and the rising use of military-style tactics in the war on drugs read Overkill by Radley Balko.

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Cheye Calvo Interview – Mayor Terrorized by Swat Team Drug Raid

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They Got the Tater – Ron White Arrested Possessing 3 Grams of Marijuana

Ganja Blue — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:32:00 +0000

Ron White asserts that he is a medical marijuana user, this comes after his arrest for simple possession of 3 grams of cannabis and a glass pipe. An anonymous tipster narced out The Tater and police sprang into action. This is freaking ridiculous and completely conflicts with Drug Czar John Walters assertion that people don’t go to jail for simple possession. Ron White had 3 grams of marijuana, that’s about 1/10th of an ounce or less than $100 worth of high quality, medical marijuana. He was arrested, booked and release with a $1000 bond. I guess the streets are safe now. Great police work. How many personnel hours do you think that law enforcement is wasting on the investigation, processing, prosecution, and incarceration of a non-violent medical marijuana user? Ron was flying to Florida for a sold-out show. Over 1000 people were inconvenienced when the show started an hour late.

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They Got the Tater – Ron White Arrested Possessing 3 Grams of Marijuana

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Cato Forum: Should No-Knock Police Raids be Rare-or Routine? Today at 3pm CDT

Ganja Blue — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:06:00 +0000

The Cato Institute is having a forum on so-called “No-Knock” raids. Details below. Sorry, the stream is only available in RealMedia format, gross.

Cato Institute: Should No-Knock Police Raids be Rare-or Routine? (Policy Forum): “Should No-Knock Police Raids be Rare-or Routine?

POLICY FORUM
Thursday, September 11, 2008
4:00 PM (Reception To Follow)

Featuring Cheye Calvo, Mayor, Berwyn Heights, Maryland, Radley Balko, Senior Writer, Reason and author of Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America, Peter Christ, Co-founder, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Moderated by Tim Lynch, Director, Project on Criminal Justice, Cato Institute.

The Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

Watch the Event Live in RealVideo
Listen to the Event in RealAudio (Audio Only)

The Prince Georgeâ€™s County police department is under fire for a recent drug raid on the home of Berwyn Heights mayor Cheye Calvo. Unbeknownst to Calvo, a box containing marijuana was delivered to his home. Shortly thereafter, police officers kicked in the front door and shot both of Calvoâ€™s pet Labrador retrievers. The police have subsequently cleared Calvo of any wrongdoing but are unapologetic about their raid tactics. Are no-knock, paramilitary raids an appropriate tactic for drug investigations? Or do sudden, unannounced entries bring unnecessary violence to police investigations? Join us for a discussion of the Prince Georgeâ€™s incident and, more broadly, the militarization of police work in America.”

*Update: I fixed the links to the media streams.

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Cato Forum: Should No-Knock Police Raids be Rare-or Routine? Today at 3pm CDT

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Crooked Cop Helps Husband Frame Wife for Marijuana, Guns

Ganja Blue — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:59:00 +0000

This story from Chicago saddens me, but is not surprising. When the passive aggressive use the force of government to exact their revenge the results can be deadly. In this fortunate instance the tables were turned.

Chicago officer charged in frame job: “Bogdan Mazur, who is in the midst of a divorce, tried to set up his estranged wife by planting cocaine, marijuana and a gun in her vehicle in April 2007 and having Grand-Central District Officer Slawomir Plewa arrest her, according to Assistant State’s Atty. Lynn McCarthy.

Plewa, 30, was arrested Monday and charged with official misconduct, perjury, obstruction of justice, unlawful restraint and false reporting.”

People often use drug laws to exact retribution, vengeance, and hate against others. Sometimes drug users are snitched on, not to “make the streets safer” but because someone has simply felt personally slighted. Snitching is a great way for the passive aggressive to earn some quick cash while narcing out a personal enemy and subjecting them to the terror of the courts and prisons. The article continues:

After the acquittal, the woman’s attorney, Steven Messner, said he told Assistant State’s Atty. Bob Milan he suspected the case was phony. Plewa had admitted he never made note of the meeting with the informant nor tried to verify the information with anyone else, Messner said.

And a fingerprint taken from the packaging around the gun and drugs did not match the estranged wife’s, Messner said.

Plewa is a seven-year veteran of the department, assigned to the gang-narcotics team for much of that time, and has never before been disciplined by the department, said Dan Herbert, Plewa’s attorney.

In other instances innocent people are framed by their enemies. Vindictive individuals know that police are more interested in racking up arrest numbers in order to seize assets and qualify for federal grants. Law enforcement has no incentive to filter through these bogus accusations. Instead they frequently take the snitch’s word without any corroborating investigation. In extreme circumstances police knowingly use false information because the incentives to disregard it are simply to great.

Law enforcement should be about justice, righting wrongs. They should be available to protect our life, our liberty, our property. The drug war conflicts with this mission. When cops are used to enforce societal norms we all suffer.

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Crooked Cop Helps Husband Frame Wife for Marijuana, Guns

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Stepping Up the Cannabis Re-Legalization Debate

Ganja Blue — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:42:00 +0000

Allen St. Pierre, Executive Directory of NORML has a scathing rebuttal of the ONDCP’s outrageous claims on their blog. The post is on The Hill’s blog which is widely read by congressional staffers and lobbyists. Hopefully staffers at the ONDCP will stop getting invited to D.C. cocktail parties and change their tune.

Congress and the Media Should be Dubious of Office of Natâ€™l Drug Control Policyâ€™s Claims: …Cannabis cases however, notably minor possession cases, still clog the criminal justice system and are at the heart of dozens of state and federal appellate cases that have largely established lessâ€”not moreâ€”liberty and economic freedom for citizens. The gravitas of the state and federal conflict on the issue of cannabis prohibition so contentious the US Supreme Court has had to twice intervene since 2001 on the specific issue of medical access to cannabis for dying, sick and sense-threatened patients (in both cases, the court strongly deferred to Congressâ€™ prerogative to pass anti-cannabis legislation, regardless of how illogical or devoid of compassion, reason and science).

Perhaps, having more credibility with law and order crowd, Seattle’s former police chief, Norm Stamper can affect the debate with his brilliant arguments in the video below, courtesy of Reason.tv.

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Stepping Up the Cannabis Re-Legalization Debate

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Drug War Disenfranchisement – Steve Pearson Removed from Bartlett, TN Ballot

Ganja Blue — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:46:00 +0000

Possession of a plant can not only cost you your right to vote, it can also disqualify you from public service.

Commercial Appeal – Felony arrest ends Pearson’s bid for Bartlett post – The Shelby County Election Commission ruled that Steve Pearson III, who filed to face Young in the Nov. 4 election, did not qualify for the race. While there were questions about Pearson’s residency, a guilty plea to a felony charge of possession of 46 pounds of marijuana in 1989 was enough for the commission to disqualify Pearson, 57, from the election.

This is how they silence their political dissenters. I watched AKA Tommy Chong last night that anecdotes how they railroad non-violent pot offenders through the system, cage them, and strip them of their rights. Pot-prohibition violators are political prisoners. It’s time to end this war on the American people and restore the rights of its casualties.

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Drug War Disenfranchisement – Steve Pearson Removed from Bartlett, TN Ballot

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A Message to Memphis, The War on Marijuana is a Quagmire

Ganja Blue — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:05:00 +0000

I read this news story: Morocco destroyed a 2,736 hectare cannabis farm. That’s an area almost 20 times the size of Overton Park*. That’s an unreal bust, and yet supply for the United States in the coming year won’t be diminished. We’re the country with the greatest marijuana consumption in the world.

I saw this story later: Police make large marijuana bust, police in Louisville take in 5 suspects for possessing between 200 and 500 pounds of marijuana. Why does the news media not take note of the outrageous claims of law enforcement? Repeatedly we are told about large busts of multiple hundreds of pound of cannabis, but that’s not even a comet in the universe of buds smoked in this country. According to the White House’s Marijuana SourceBook [PDF] I’ve conservatively approximated that 60,000 Memphians use cannabis. That crowd would fill the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

No one could fathom the acreage of bud you would have to produce to feed the demand of the residents of our city. We are constantly bombarded with claims that the drug warriors are winning, Blue Crush?, that they’re “keeping drugs of the streets”, when clearly they aren’t. Instead we’re crowding 201 Poplar full of the fathers of our dying babies. Watch the 20/20 preview if you haven’t already. If marijuana were taxed and regulated, or simply free to grow and consume the money wouldn’t be going to the thugs fueling the violence.

We’re giving outrageous profits to the gangsters that rule our streets and cause one of the highest homicide rates in the country. Marijuana prohibition is causing and perpetuating our problems. You just can’t keep drugs out the hands of a free people. Unless you want a totalitarian state, end the marijuana prohibition.

*2,736 hectares / 342 acres = 19.77

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A Message to Memphis, The War on Marijuana is a Quagmire

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Death’s Head Imagery Appears on DEA Apparel

Ganja Blue — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:07:00 +0000

I respect what Alex Jones does, but I don’t subscribe to conspiracy chasing much because it’s time consuming and unproductive. I’d rather be a voice of reason and liberty. However, I will agree, because it’s well documented, that organizations like Skull and Bones, Bohemian Grove, and the Bilderberg Group exist and operate to conspire to rule us. Their symbolism exists in government and court logos, emblems, seals, etc. This is the first time I’ve recognized Death’s Head, (a.k.a skull and crossbones, â˜ ) imagery in Drug Enforcement Administration patches.

I first saw an image like this on the below from Ian of Free Talk Live and FreeKeene.com. Apparently the emblem isn’t widely used or it would be prevalent across the net. It does trouble me because law enforcement supposedly exists to “serve and protect” and “keep us safe.” I can’t count how many times I’ve been told I should be grateful to law enforcement for the protection the provide to me and my family. If this is the case why do they exert force like the Marines?

The Marines are not peace keepers or law enforcement, they are the nation’s “shock troops*.” Vice versa, the police shouldn’t be shock troops, raining down death and destruction to our cities. Local, state and federal administrators shouldn’t allow their law enforcement divisions to use imagery of death to intimidate the public. I’m sure my plea will fall on deaf ears.

* I highly recommend you watch Generation Kill for a rather accurate depiction of how the Marines operate, then compare it with how you’d like domestic law enforcement to behave.

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Death’s Head Imagery Appears on DEA Apparel

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Death’s Head Imagery Appears on DEA Apparel

Ganja Blue — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:07:00 +0000

* I highly recommend you watch Generation Kill for a rather accurate depiction of how the Marines operate, then compare it with how you’d like domestic law enforcement to behave.

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Drug War Logic – West Helena, AR Under Siege

Ganja Blue — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:10:00 +0000

West Helena Mayor James Valley says, â€œThe citizens deserve peace, that some infringement on constitutional rights is OK and we have not violated anything as far as the Constitution.â€ The mayor and the city council have put the tiny Arkansas town under a 24-hour curfew. The people of West Helena are being imprisoned, without cause, in their own homes.

Reason’s Jacob Sullum tries to wade through the bullshit:

clipped from www.reason.com

SoÂ the government creates a black market that disproportionately hurts poor people, enforces its drug laws in a way that disproportionately hurts poor people, andÂ responds to the resulting violence and disorder with police tactics that disproportionately hurt poor people. When civil libertarians object, they are dismissed as privileged pointy-heads who do not understand the problems of poor people.

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Drug War Logic – West Helena, AR Under Siege

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Drug War Hypocricy Holds Police to a Lower Standard

Ganja Blue — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:38:00 +0000

The Liberty Papers has a thoughtful piece on the dichotomy between the justice system’s expectations of untrained, startled, and terrified citizens and their expectations of well-armed, tactically trained law enforcement officers. Heaven forbid that a private citizen try to protect babies from masked, heavily-armed gunmen breaking down the doors of their homes in the middle of the night. We, as a society, justify the intrusion and murder of innocent people just to keep Americans from getting high.

When I was growing up I remember learning that as a society, we held police, elected officials, and other authority figures to a higher moral standard. Now we justify barbaric behavior with the “Drug War,” which is really just a war on the American People. Like our imperial foreign policy, we’ve allowed the ends to justify the means.

Hat tip: The Agitator

clipped from www.thelibertypapers.org

A Tale of Two Drug Raids

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. For those who wore the badge, they could do no wrong. For the â€œbadge-nots,â€ they could do no right.

I only wish this was a work of fiction but it is not. When it comes to drug raids (often no-knock raids), suspects (whether guilty or innocent) are treated with a different standard when a life is taken by mistake.

But what happens when the police shoot the wrong person?

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Drug War Hypocricy Holds Police to a Lower Standard

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Steven Colbert: The Big Business of Incarceration

Ganja Blue — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:56:00 +0000

As long as prisons are profitable we won’t ever see a decline in their population. Even though violent crime is down drastically from the 1970’s or prison population continues to skyrocket. Every year more and more draconian steps are taken to harshly punish non-violent consensual crime, like drug possession, gambling, alcohol (the most dangerous drug) and of course dirty-dirty consensual sex. The only humor in it seems to be in this satire by Steven Colbert.

I saw this show live last night. The Texas Prison Bidness blog beat me to the post.

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Steven Colbert: The Big Business of Incarceration

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First They Came for the Dairy Farmers

Ganja Blue — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:17:00 +0000

… And I was not a dairy farmer.

Feds launch ‘Gestapo raid’ over raw milk: “‘They swooped in … like a bunch of Vikings, handcuffed me and stole $30,000 worth of my milk, cheese and butter,’ he told the New York Daily News.

His case is just an example of what the government is trying to do to those who believe â€“ based on medical results â€“ that raw milk is better for them than the processed milk available in most grocery stores, according to Nolt’s supporters.”

Your tax dollars at work, you know, to keep you safe. So what do you have in your cabinets that the government might not like?

HT: The Agitator

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First They Came for the Dairy Farmers

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Drug War Double Standard is Dehumanizing

Ganja Blue — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:04:00 +0000

The Agitator – Yet More Professionalism:

“The [Albany Police] department is facing a lawsuit from a man named Tunde Clement, who it should probably be noted does have a long history of drug offenses. But in this particular case, Clement was clean. Sheriffâ€™s deputies confronted Clement as he was departing a bus, took him to the menâ€™s bathroom, and searched him. When they found no drugs, they arrested him for â€œresisting arrest,â€ a charge that was later thrown out, given that you canâ€™t arrest someone for â€œresisting arrestâ€ if they havenâ€™t committed a crime that should have resulted in arrest in the first place.

The police then strip-searched Clement, and made him squat in front of them. The claimed to have seen white powder on his anus So they took him to a hospital. Without his consent, they then administered drugs to sedate him, induced him to vomit, put a camera up his rectum, and took x-rays of him. Such drastic measures against the consent of a patient usually require officials to show some sort of imminent emergency. There was no such emergency with Clement. And still, no drugs. The hospital later sent Clement a bill for $6,800, and diagnosed him as having â€œhemorrhoids.â€”

I think this is further evidence of the attempt to utilize the drug war to dehumanize the less fortunate in society. Lets compare the outrageous story above to the pass that Cindy McCain received when her prescription pain pill use was outed.

TalkLeft – CNN Examines Cindy McCain

But Cindy McCain wasn’t just addicted to pain pills. She was investigated federally for stealing pain pills from a medical charity she headed and for having prescriptions filled in the names of the charity’s employees. She admitted it. One of the doctors who wrote the prescriptions for her lost his license.

Mrs. McCain, through her lawyers, was able to get federal prosecutors to let her enter a diversion program and avoid jail.

Diversion is common in state courts for first-time offenders. It isn’t in federal courts.

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Drug War Double Standard is Dehumanizing

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Drunk Driving – The New Prohibition

Ganja Blue — Sat, 10 May 2008 04:07:00 +0000

Someone very close to me was killed by a drunk driver years ago. I know how dangerous alcohol can be, but alcohol laws have gone too far.

Jeff Brown of Columbus, Ohio was arrested for DWI, spent four days in jail, and had his license suspended for six months when he refused to take a breath test after an officer confronted him on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Brown was walking his bicycle across his own front yard. Brown has since made a YouTube video detailing his ordeal.

via The Agitator via ShootBack.tv

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Drunk Driving – The New Prohibition

Prohibition (still) doesn’t work. Someone should tell Egypt. I swear I’ve heard this before. “If this thing enters...

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Federal Prosecutors Won’t Cease Their Persecution of Tommy Chong

Ganja Blue — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:52:00 +0000

No word on if charges are pending in this case. As of now the feds have just confiscated his associates’ property. Full Story

Chong says agents seized 10,000 DVDs of his documentary. Federal prosecutors may be targeting Chong for trying to profit off his prosecution. “I’m not profiting off the story of my first amendment violation at all,” said Chong.

HT: Prison Planet

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Federal Prosecutors Won’t Cease Their Persecution of Tommy Chong

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Federal Prosecutors Won’t Cease Their Persecution of Tommy Chong

Ganja Blue — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:52:00 +0000

No word on if charges are pending in this case. As of now the feds have just confiscated his associates’ property. Full Story

Chong says agents seized 10,000 DVDs of his documentary. Federal prosecutors may be targeting Chong for trying to profit off his prosecution. “I’m not profiting off the story of my first amendment violation at all,” said Chong.

HT: Prison Planet

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Federal Prosecutors Won’t Cease Their Persecution of Tommy Chong

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The Ballad of Kathryn Johnston by Shawn Mullins – Lyrics Here!

Ganja Blue — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:58:00 +0000

Shawn Mullins has released “The Ballad of Kathryn Johnston” on MP3 via Amazon.com. Kathryn Johnston is the 92 year old great grandmother who was gunned down by police in a botched drug raid. At fault were the police who knowingly used the fraudulent report of an anonymous informant to secure a search warrant against Ms. Johnston’s Atlanta home. Read more here. I had a minute to transcribe the lyrics.

“The Ballad of Kathryn Johnston, Shawn Mullins”

Ole Miss Johnston,
Lived all alone,
On the sorry side of town.

Broke down cars and burglar bars,
On the windows and doors,
In case danger comes around.

Sitting in her yellow kitchen,
Listening to bad news
On the AM radio.

Used to be Louis Armstrong
And Martin Luther King.
Where did every body go?

Out the window
Where her garden was,
It’s not safe to go outside.

Ole Miss Johnston
In the eye of the storm,
It was the safest place to hide.

[Unintelligible] Life’s a gamble,
for the broken and the weak,
Dealing with the bangers and the drugs.

The winos weave and amble,
And wander on down the street,
Steering clear of all the thugs.

Now my city hangs her head in shame.
Can’t tell the truth from all the lies.

Everything changed forever
And everything stayed the same
On the night Miss Johnston died.

When will things change for people like Miss Johnston, Cory Maye, Tarika Wilson, and Ryan Fredrick?

You can buy the MP3 for $1 on Amazon. (Hey tightwad! It’s only a buck! Buy it already!)

Hat tip: The Agitator

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Memphis Cracks Down on Non-Violent "Crime"

Ganja Blue — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:50:00 +0000

Memphis Police are hard at work cracking down on non-violent crime. This time it’s the johns they’re after:

…[A]uthorities will attempt to seize 42 cars: 39 from those charged with soliciting prostitutes, as well as one from a suspect facing drug charges and two because the owners had revoked driver’s licenses.

“They were used in the commission of a crime. Under state law, they are subject to seizure,” Dist. Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons said, when asked if the seizures seemed excessive. “I think it’s a good law. But if you think it’s too stringent, talk to your legislators.”
Added Memphis Police director Larry Godwin: “I’d say seize every dadgum vehicle and send a message.”

These “crimes” are consensual and non-violent. Surely we have higher priorities in the most violent city in America. And they’re seizing the cars because its impossible to pick up a prostitute in Memphis without one?

This operation comes on the heels of “Operation Sudden Impact” where dozens of terrorists were captured before unleashing their wrath on the city. Well not really.

Update: The Agitator picked this story up today 4/24/2008.

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Memphis Cracks Down on Non-Violent "Crime"

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Balko Sounds Off on "Operation Sudden Impact"

Ganja Blue — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:35:00 +0000

The Agitator, Radley Balko sounds off again on the Memphis Inquisition on April 13. Via Reason Magazine:

What’s really unfortunate is the complete lack of inquisitiveness in the local media. How many of these raids were backed by search warrants? What justification did police give for the traffic roadblocks and traffic stops? Random stops and roadblocks are only legal under limited circumstances. Fishing expeditions aren’t one of them, though fishing expeditions disguised as DWI checkpoints usually are.

Guess what, Radley? This is par for the course in Memphis, TN, where the only investigative journalism is the weekly restaurant health department scores. Remember that drunk off-duty cop who shot up the bar a few weeks ago? Yeah, neither does anyone else. Here we’re too busy dodging bullets to be concerned with getting pulled over on traffic violation.

Most of the locals here keep hollering for more police protection, more checkpoints, more arrests, more incarcerations, and longer sentences. Meanwhile we’re looking at a 17% property tax increase, for what?

BTW, it was Free Talk Live coverage, not local media that got my attention.

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Balko Sounds Off on "Operation Sudden Impact"

Prohibition (still) doesn’t work. Someone should tell Egypt. I swear I’ve heard this before. “If this thing enters...
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Enterprising Arkansan Operates Drive Thru Dispensary

Ganja Blue — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:27:00 +0000

Last time I went to Spring River I stopped by for a 30 pack of “Last Chance Beer” before I hit the dry counties of North Central Arkansas. I never thought about picking up a sack on my way. Stepping up to fill consumer demand, this enterprising Arkansan Pizza Hut Manager’s diversification strategies landed him in hot water with the state’s good ole boys. Yep, prohibition is alive and well in Arkansas.

Police: Manager sold marijuana from drive-through window
FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) â€” Police have arrested a pizza parlor manager on charges alleging he sold marijuana out of his drive-through window in Fort Smith, Ark.

Authorities said Monday that state and local investigators acting on a tip went to the Pizza Hut restaurant and found six ounces of marijuana and a set of digital scales in the manager’s office.

Police said they arrested 28-year-old manager Aaron Massey on Friday on a charge of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

Massey has been released on $3,500 bail.

Note: no weapons, no violence, just a plant.
Original Article

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Enterprising Arkansan Operates Drive Thru Dispensary

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Martial Law Memphis Style

Ganja Blue — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:54:00 +0000

Well we’re blowing up on the bloggosphere here in Memphis. I’m rather underwhelmed with our Anti-Terrorism response, “Operation Sudden Impact” was more like Operation Dull Thud. I mean I never noticed any extra police activity on April 13. I try to miss all the local newscasts, and I can’t abide listening to AM 600 for news anymore. Mike Fleming is a racist windbag of David Duke proportions. No one can mix a metaphor like Mike can. I digress.

We Memphians have one of the most violent cities in the US and we’re using Federal anti-terrorism money to arrest people for petty, non-violent offenses. Does anyone else see a problem with this behavior? We’re just stuck on stupid I guess. I’m a little embarrassed for our city, again.

Radley Balko mentioned us here.
Free Talk Live covered the story was covered in the last 20 minutes of Friday’s show, MP3 here.
Alex Jones’ Prison Planet has the scoop for the tin-foil hat crowd.

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Martial Law Memphis Style

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Review: Barry Cooper’s Never Get Raided DVD

Ganja Blue — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:20:00 +0000

I arrived home yesterday and checked my mail box. Finally my “Never Get Raided” video was here. Shipping seemed to take forever, 3 weeks, but I ordered early so I was able to get an autographed copy. Barry and Candy Cooper are doing yeoman’s work in the cannabis culture. I’m so glad they produced this video and hope that every cannabis user and person interested in cannabis law reform watches it.

As a former drug cop and baddass, Barry’s message is unique. Now he works on the citizen’s side of the law, instructing people how to protect themselves from having their lives ruined by tyrannical and draconian drug policy. His compassion is evident as he describes the lives destroyed by aggressive and violent police tactics. He specifically shows concern for families ruined by the war on drugs.

After seeing Never Get Busted Volume 1: Traffic Stops, I was amazed at the amount of gossip and misinformation the average stoner gets from his friends in avoiding police protection. There is a misconception that coffee grounds and other masking agents fool drug dogs. Dogs can separate smell with their nose, like we can color with our eyes. A dog will smell both coffee and cannabis in the same container, even if we can’t. Volume 2: Never Get Raided is full of cannabis proverbs as well.

The first chapter [Youtube Video] covers growing cannabis outdoors or guerrilla growing. Barry takes you to a cannabis field to show you how law enforcement searches from helicopters to detect grow operations. Provided among the tips is a running commentary about the irrationality, stupidity, and futility of the drug war. The police will brag about busting 7 fields while failing to irradicate thousands more. Cannabis remains the number one cash crop in the nation, says Barry, it ranks just above corn. Corn! With all of the government subsidies corn corn farmers get, the millions of acres planted with it, with the 1000’s of uses corn has from biofuel to sweetener, cannabis is still numero uno.

Barry then unearths a myriad of myths and speculation about how FLIR cameras work to detect indoor cannabis gardens. Spoiler: It’s not your lights they look for, its the heat of your exhaust. You must see the actual FLIR video he took, where he uncovers an indoor garden. He also covers how to obtain indoor grow room equipment undetected, both online and brick and mortar.

The “Selling Drugs Undetected” chapter involves a complicated scheme of evasion and drop off locations. Frankly, the technique he describes just wouldn’t be practical for small casual sales. There are other useful tips in this chapter you shouldn’t miss especially about “talking business” and prepaid cell phones.

Detecting undercovers and informants is probably the most critical chapter for the average smoker to watch. Desperate friends will rat on you if they’re in trouble. He covers how these snitches behave in order to deceive you. A Barry gem: A (clean) cop will never take a bong hit.

The most unique lesson he teaches comes in the Avoiding Knock and Talks chapter. When the police knock on the door to ask you questions, there is no reason you ever need to open the door for them. You are in no way obligated to talk to them or comply with their instructions. I’ll say it again, whether or not you have anything to hide, “NEVER OPEN YOUR DOOR FOR THE POLICE!” If the police have the authority to enter your home, make them kick the door down. If they aren’t willing to do that then they have no choice but to go away. He teaches, through the anecdote of a busted grower, the techniques that cops will use to manipulate and coerce you into complying with their investigation. I’ll save the rest of the details for the video.

One of the strange paradoxes you’ll learn is that, unlike your vehicle, in your home you want EVERYTHING to smell like cannabis. Barry teaches you how to ensure that that happens. If everything smells like bud, there’s no way a drug detector dog can distinguish between the ubiquitous smell of cannabis and your well hidden stash.

That’s about it. I recommend you buy this video for yourself and those that care about. Barry does give permission for you to make copies of the video that you buy for your friends, but requests that you at least buy one copy for the permission to do this.

Barry and Candy now write for Cannabis Culture Magazine, available next to High Times at Bookstar at Poplar Plaza. They are working on NGB Volume 3: 50/50, were they will document the use of alcohol and then cannabis on the same 50 people.

Barry Cooper, Mark Emery, and I all have very lovely wives, even though we might not be much to look at. That says something for responsible, cannabis using men. We take care of the ladies.

Follow @ganjablue on Twitter.

Review: Barry Cooper’s Never Get Raided DVD

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