Barnery Franks -- Sanity Award

This week congress is looking at decriminalizing pot on a federal level. How far we have come. The states have been leading the way on this issue for a long time.

Now that medical marijuana is making a state and federal battle ground on which makes the dems look unenlightened, they are surprisingly coming out and getting all sane.

The Democrats are supposed to be the party that acts beyond their religious beliefs, into the often secular heart of politics. Pot is one of the most damned things on the planet. Classes given all across the country demonize the drug. Nothing could be said of the sort about drinking, which makes up for fifteen percent of the deaths in some countries. Even though the bible talks about drunks quite a bit, but the only reference I've ever heard about drugs comes from some nutty preacher who said any mention of a 'wizard' in the bible meant someone who used drugs. This guy said this like it was some huge, horrible revelation, instead of some stupid thing he pulled out of his Harry Potter hating ass.

People in america want pot legalized because they see the benefits far outweigh any possible consequences. Taxing the stuff would balanced budgets, and if it is going to be used anyways, the government needs to step in and say, okay, this is the will of the people, so let's do the best we can with the situation. Incarceration is no solution. If pot bars were on corners, instead of drinking bars, the cops would have a lot less to worry about. You do not hear about pot crazed cops beating up bartenders.

In fact, driving on pot is nothing compared to driving on drink. I know. I drove cab in the real world, where a lot of drunks and druggies were behind the wheels. The pot heads were the drivers that everyone wanted. My first boss gave us all weed in the morning, when we stopped back during the day. He swore that stoned drivers did not get into accidents, just the drunk ones.

Anyways, this is not the best of worlds, obviously. I no longer drive stoned, though I would be hypocrite to say it caused me no problems, though they were few. It was fun driving around all buzzed up. I did not smoke until years into the experience by the way. By then I knew the city like the back of my hand, and was a very good, well paid cab driver. So the weed, when I started smoking it, was more a matter of a way to be nice to everyone. I enjoyed listening to music, cruising around the city, meeting people. It was fun. I was in on the pulse of the city, so to speak.

I saw a lot of curious and wonderful sights, hundreds of sunrises over the lake, the city sleepy at night and lit just for me with strings of lights down lake michigan twinkling in the snow. Like driving in a series of gorgous paintings, to me especially, who was always taking pictures, drawing, writing, trying to capture what was going on around me, make stories that showed some sense to what I was seeing on the street -- underlying rules and meanings that belied the often ugly sites and criminals... etc.

Now, fundamentally, we have a chance in America to kind of grow up on this issue. Push past our prejudices and accept that if we want a free country, with less crime, and an easy source of taxes to help our economy (plus less 25k a year prison sentences for users), etc... and all we need to do is say what we all know is the common sense answer --- PROHIBITION HAS NOT WORKED. IT IS TIME TO QUIT victimizing people for being individuals. Not to mention, again, the common sense answer that pot is better than drink for society, our bodies, our minds, our law enforcement officials, etc...

So, hey, barney Frank... Good Job.

This from the Stop The Drug War Site that really keeps you on top of what you damn well should be on top of. Fight for your fucking rights, man. And the rights of others.

Marijuana: Barney Frank Introduces Federal Decriminalization Bill

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from Drug War Chronicle, Issue #591, 6/26/09

In a press release last Friday, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) announced he has introduced a bill that would decriminalize the possession and not-for-profit transfer of small amounts of marijuana. It was the second marijuana bill of the week for Frank, who a couple of days earlier introduced the Medical Marijuana Protection Act.

Barney Frank

Titled the Personal Use of Marijuana By Responsible Adults Act of 2009 (H.R. 2943), the bill would remove federal criminal penalties for the possession of less than 100 grams (about 3.5 ounces) and for the not-for-profit transfer of up to one ounce. The bill would not change marijuana's status as a Schedule I controlled substance, would not change federal laws banning the growing, sale, and import and export of marijuana, and would not undo state laws prohibiting marijuana.

"I think John Stuart Mill had it right in the 1850s," said Congressman Frank, "when he argued that individuals should have the right to do what they want in private, so long as they don't hurt anyone else. It's a matter of personal liberty. Moreover, our courts are already stressed and our prisons are overcrowded. We don't need to spend our scarce resources prosecuting people who are doing no harm to others."

"Congressman Frank's bill represents a major step toward sanity in federal marijuana policy," said Marijuana Policy Project director of government relations Aaron Houston. "The decades-long federal war on marijuana protects no one and in fact has ruined countless lives. Most Americans do not believe that simple possession of a small amount of marijuana should be a criminal matter, and it's time Congress listened to the voters."

As of the middle of this week, the bill had five cosponsors: Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Ron Paul (R-TX), Jared Polis (D-CO), and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee. No word yet on any hearings.

Ten states have already decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana. Those states are California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, and Oregon. In an eleventh, Alaska, the possession of up to an ounce in one's home is not just decriminalized, it's legal.

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Drug War Issues Marijuana -- Personal Use

Politics & Advocacy Decriminalization - Congress

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