Natty Dread

I applauded new San Diego mayor Bob Filner when he took office last month. One of the first things that he did was direct the City Attorney Jan Goldsmith and the Chief of Police Bill Lansdowne to ease up on their longstanding war on Medical Marijuana dispensaries. Filner has been an advocate for marijuana users for years, as shown in this article referencing a 2011 letter he wrote to President Obama.

“During your presidential campaign, you repeatedly pledged to end federal raids against the individuals and collectives authorized by state law to use or provide medical cannabis, giving hope to patients who legitimately use medical cannabis to treat their conditions that their long struggle to safely access their medicine was finally over,” the letter states.

“By pursuing the same harsh policies that have been in place for years, we fear that the federal government will push legitimate patients back into the uncertainty and danger of the illicit market.”

Filner co-sponsored the States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act. He has been a tireless advocate to put a little common sense on the stupid and pointless war on weed. Mayor Bob Filner vowed  that a city ordinance allowing medical marijuana clinics in San Diego would be ready for debate by the end of February. Making good on a campaign promise, Filner said the ordinance would “not only allow compassionate use but is tightly controlled and regulated.”

This immediately raised the hackles of Goldsmith and Uber U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy, fanatical zealots in the weed wars. Now Filner appears to be backtracking a bit. There are about a dozen pot cases in the hopper and the weed warriors are reluctant to give up their victims before a new ordinance is drafted. The San Diego City Council voted 7-0 to continue their jihad.



Obama's continuation and in some cases accelerated war on pot has been one of the saddest lowlights of his administration. I am not going to rehash his lies, hypocrisy and mixed signals here, we have trod that ground before. V.P. Biden is said to be the most strident prohibitionist, which will keep me from ever voting for him for President, one liberal anti pot crusader is enough, thank you.

You would think that an anti prohibitionist politician would come to the fore, sensing the mood of the populous, the support would (I think) be incredible, from across the political spectrum. But the politicians are all chickens and the reformed pot heads (choom gang) are among the worst.  Can't set a bad example for Malia and Sasha now, can we?

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One of the most reprehensible results of Obama drug policy is now playing out in Mendocino where growers meticulously followed state and local statutes, worked with law enforcement and are now caught in a big tragic opera with the Obama Justice Department that wants all of their names and information, like shooting sitting ducks off of a wall. They believed, they trusted, silly them... The Justice Department and DEA classify marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug with no medical benefits or studies behind it. Why? Because they will not allow it to be studied.

They were led to believe Obama's campaign fluff that he would respect state laws and are now paying their price for their foolish trust. The U.S. Attorney took a page out of Stalin or Orwell and went after the most vocal proponents up there. Duffy threatened public employees that were working on the new zoning laws for dispensaries.

It would be a mistake to interpret my comments as a softening of our position. I have made it clear many times that under federal law, marijuana is illegal, period. My reference to state law was intended to help explain that profit is one of many factors we consider when exercising our prosecutorial discretion. We have targeted and will continue to target individuals and entities making retail sales of marijuana for profit because they are the source of the community ills, such as high-volume sales to minors and the increase in crime in adjacent neighborhoods, that led to citizen complaints and compelled law enforcement action.
U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy

Duffy says that she has not targeted individual users. She just wants to make it impossible for medical marijuana users to get their medicine.

As a cancer survivor who has used marijuana for pain relief I look forward to the day when we have a sensible drug policy. I support the legalization of marijuana for any reason or intended use, medical or recreational. It is time to get it off the federal classified substances list and also time to stop giving supposedly "liberal" politicians who would continue the draconian pot witch hunt a free pass. Would I consider voting for a fiscally conservative, libertarian republican who believed in reproductive choice and marijuana decriminalization? You bet I would.

"We’re not going to find someone running for president who advocates reform of [marijuana] laws. What is required is a genuine republican groundswell. It is happening, but ever so gradually. Two of every five Americans, according to a 2003 Zogby poll cited by Dr. Nadelmann, believe “the government should treat marijuana more or less the same way it treats alcohol: It should regulate it, control it, tax it, and make it illegal only for children.”    Such reforms would hugely increase the use of the drug? Why? It is de facto legal in the Netherlands, and the percentage of users there is the same as here. The Dutch do odd things, but here they teach us a lesson."

William F. Buckley