It
does not matter if the war is not real, or when it is, that victory is
not possible. The war is not meant to be won. It is meant to be
continuous. ~ George Orwell, 1984 While it’s
fairly well known that the United States Constitution was written on
paper made from the controversial hemp plant, it may come as a surprise
to know that growing hemp, also called cannabis, or marijuana, was once
mandatory. Indeed, our first marijuana law, written in 1619 in
Jamestown, Virginia, ordered all farmers to grow “Indian hemp seed.”
During hard times in the mid-1760s, a farmer could be thrown in jail for
not growing it. By 1850 we had over eight thousand hemp plantations, boasting at least two thousand acres each. George
Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp. In a 1794 note to his
Mount Vernon gardener, Washington said, “Make the most of the Indian
hemp seed and sow it everywhere!” Washington and Jefferson were known to
exchange gifts of a smoking mixture that was definitely not tobacco. Many of our
forefathers were said to have smoked marijuana. Given the inspired
concepts inscribed in the Declaration of Independence -- that all men
are created equal, that they are endowed with the right to life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness -- enthusiasts like to say it was written
on marijuana. However, long before the birth of our nation, from the 5th century B.C. until the advent of the steamship in the 19th century,
hemp was a mainstay in commerce. In the shipping industry, for
instance, ninety percent of all rigging, ropes, wood sealant, flags,
maps, logs, Bibles and clothing, as well as the canvas sails themselves,
was made from hemp. Today’s industrial uses include biodegradable
plastics, construction materials, biomass fuels (renewable energy,)
health food and medicine. Proponents
claim that hemp, the world’s only known fully-sustainable natural
resource, can meet our paper, textile, transportation and home-energy
needs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, clean the environment, and
rebuild depleted soil, all while healing the sick. “In other words, it’s
the greatest plant on Earth,” concludes a narrator in Melissa Balin and
Jack Herer’s short film, The Emperor Wears No Clothes. So, after a couple dozen centuries of being the greatest plant on Earth, how did marijuana suddenly become Public Enemy #1? Greatest Plant or Loco Weed? Between 1910
and 1920, during the Mexican Revolution, destitute immigrants from
Mexico provided cheap farm labor, especially in the Southwest. This
created tension with local workers, as unemployment and the encroaching
economic depression stretched racial tensions past the breaking point.
The use of marijuana in Mexican culture made easy targets of both
marijuana and Mexican people. All Mexicans are crazy and this stuff is what makes them crazy. ~ Texas lawmaker, 1919 California was
the first state to outlaw “loco weed.” At the time, 1913, Congress
lacked the power to outlaw drugs or alcohol at the federal level.
Alcohol prohibition, which lasted from 1919 to 1933, required an
amendment to the Constitution, while drug laws were passed piecemeal,
behind closed doors. But the nasty business we know as the War on
Marijuana began in earnest in 1930 with the creation of the Federal
Bureau of Narcotics, a Division of the U. S. Treasury Department. Its first
director, the ruthlessly ambitious Harry J. Anslinger, made cannabis
prohibition his personal mission in life. He fanned the flames of racism
with statements like, “…the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its
effect on the degenerate races. . . . There are 100,000 total marijuana
smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and
entertainers,” baited Anslinger. “Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing,
result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek
sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others.” (Quoting Dr. Hunter S. Thompson only slightly out of context, “It always worked for me.” But I digress.) The U. S.
government responded with the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, making
possession of cannabis illegal under federal law, except for medical and
industrial use. Meanwhile, other fibers and fabrics were gaining
popularity, edging hemp out of the marketplace. After we stopped
producing it, we imported Manila hemp from the Philippines. Enter World War
II. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, we stopped importing hemp
from Asia. Once again, the U. S. government had to encourage American
farmers to grow it. If you’re looking for an unabashed ode to hemp,
forget the hippies. Look instead to the U. S. Department of
Agriculture’s 1942 promo film, Hemp for Victory:
“Long ago when these [pictured] ancient Grecian temples were new, hemp
was already old in the service of mankind.... For centuries prior to
about 1850 all the ships that sailed the western seas were rigged with
hempen rope and sails….. For the sailor, no less than the hangman, hemp
was indispensable.” Praising the
patriotic farmers who planted 36,000 acres of seed hemp in 1942, the U.
S. government set the 1943 goal at 50,000 acres of hemp. (I love the
smell of seed hemp in the morning. It’s the smell of….) The film whipped
farmers into a frenzy of hemp-based patriotism over the Navy’s quickly
dwindling supply of Manila hemp. “When it is gone, American hemp will go
on duty again…. Just as in the days when Old Ironsides sailed the sea victorious with her hempen shrouds and hempen sails. Hemp for victory.” After the war
ended, the government shut down all the hemp processing plants and the
industry died. Enter William Randolph Hearst, Lammont DuPont and Andrew
Mellon to make sure it stayed dead. This unholy alliance set out to destroy the hemp industry once and for all, and they succeeded – to this day. Although they
used racism to whip up anti-marijuana public sentiment, in reality it
was just a handy sales tool. The real motive – then and now – was
corporate greed and corruption. Newspaper mogul Hearst had a corner on
the timber and paper manufacturing market, which was threatened when new
techniques and a more efficient hemp harvesting machine promised to
undercut papermaking costs by more than half. Unlike trees, hemp was
annually renewable and required fewer chemicals in the pulp-making
process, so it was easier on the environment, as well. It had to be
stopped. DuPont
Chemicals manufactured paper and textiles. Lammont DuPont and William
Randolph Hearst were partners in a multi-million dollar paper-making
deal. DuPont shared Hearst’s zeal for stamping out
hemp as a potential competitor in making plastics and synthetic
fabrics. His company had just come out with a new fabric called nylon. Bankrolling
DuPont’s nylon enterprise was Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon –
the richest man in America and banker to the stars. He and DuPont
believed nylon’s success was dependent upon hemp’s failure. To ensure
that outcome, Mellon installed his nephew-in-law, one Harry J.
Anslinger, as head of the Bureau of Narcotics. Meanwhile,
Hearst used his newspapers and magazines to smear hemp, calling it
“marijuana” and linking it to job-stealing Mexicans, over-sexed African
Americans, violent crime, and promiscuity. (Another lasting by-product
of Hearst’s personal war on marijuana was “yellow journalism.”) Though
advocates claimed hemp had the power to revitalize the failing U.S.
economy, Hearst did such a bang-up job of demonizing it, his propaganda
still passes for truth today. And advocates are still claiming it could revitalize the failing economy. Nixon’s “All-Out War” on Weed In the late
Sixties and early Seventies, President Richard M. Nixon found a way to
use the new and improved War on Drugs to target anti-war protesters,
liberals and anyone else who got in his way. “You see,” he explained on a
May 13, 1971 White House tape, “homosexuality, dope, immorality in
general: These are the enemies of strong societies. That’s why the
Communists and the left-wingers are pushing the stuff. They’re trying to
destroy us.” The Controlled
Substances Act, which Nixon signed into law on October 27, 1970,
created five “schedules” for regulating drugs based on medicinal value
and potential for addiction. Marijuana was listed as a Schedule I drug
with no medicinal benefit. The following year, Nixon created the
National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse, known as the Shafer
Commission after “law and order” Governor Raymond P. Shafer of
Pennsylvania, whom he personally appointed to head it up. The Shafer
Commission, after conducting the most comprehensive study of marijuana
in American history, wound up recommending that possession and
non-profit transfer of marijuana be decriminalized, stating, in part,
that the actual and potential harm from using it “is not great enough
to justify intrusion by the criminal law into private behavior, a step
which our society takes only with the greatest reluctance.” President
Nixon did not share that reluctance. His reaction was to declare “all
out war, on all fronts” against marijuana’s legalization. Common Sense
for Drug Policy posted transcripts of the infamous Nixon White House
tapes on their website in March of 2002, including this excerpt from a
meeting between Nixon and his Chief of Staff, H. R. “Bob” Haldeman, on
May 26, 1971: Nixon:
I want a Goddamn strong statement on marijuana. Can I get that out of
this sonofabitching Domestic Council? [The Domestic Council was created
to shape Nixon’s domestic programs and policies.] Haldeman: Sure. Nixon:
I mean one on marijuana that just tears the ass out of them…. You
know, it’s a funny thing, every one of the bastards that are out for
legalizing marijuana is Jewish. What the Christ is the matter with the
Jews, Bob, what is the matter with them? I suppose it’s because most of
them are psychiatrists, you know, there’s so many, all the greatest
psychiatrists are Jewish. By God, we are going to hit the marijuana
thing, and I want to hit it right square in the puss…. Those were the
days, my friend. They don’t write comedy like that any more. But
seriously, if you’ve been wondering where our insane marijuana laws came
from, welcome to the Mother Lode. It
is Nixon himself who represents that dark, venal and incurably violent
side of the American character almost every other country in the world
has learned to fear and despise. ~Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72 Declaring
drug abuse Public Enemy #1, Nixon established the Drug Enforcement
Agency (DEA) in 1973. As a measure of the extent of his geographical
reach, author Jerry Beisler wrote in The Bandit of Kabul,
“President Richard Nixon offered the King of Nepal $200 million to
build a sewer system for the capital city of Kathmandu. The string that
was attached to this bribe was that the Kingdom of Nepal would then
become the last country in the world to finally criminalize ganja.” Profiteering in the Drug Wars These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people. ~ George Washington Who stands to
gain the most from marijuana prohibition? All those who work for
government agencies involved in prosecuting the so-called war on drugs,
and all those whose businesses gain by having hemp and its derivatives
made unavailable for private, commercial, or medical use. In the public
sector, whole bureaucracies have flourished in the war on drugs,
including the Drug Enforcement Agency and its precursor, the Federal
Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs; the Federal Bureau of
Investigation; the Office of National Drug Control Policy; the Federal
Bureau of Prisons; the State Department; the Treasury Department; the
Justice Department; the Central Intelligence Agency; and the National
Clandestine Services, for starters. To date, more than one trillion tax dollars have been spent on the so-called war on drugs. Over ten billion dollars a year is spent enforcing marijuana laws alone.
This gravy train feeds millions of government employees -- from
cafeteria workers to bailiffs; from cops to prison guards; from clerks
to prosecutors and judges; even legislators -- all of whom collect
government paychecks with benefits and retirement packages. And that’s
just in the public sector. In the private
sector, where the practices of Hearst, DuPont and Mellon are still very
much in play, today’s war on marijuana benefits energy companies intent
on killing competition from renewable biomass fuels made from hemp;
pharmaceutical companies who stand to lose billions when people discover
the specific marijuana strains that allow them to get off prescription
drugs, replacing harmful side-effects with harmless feel-good effects; and alcohol and tobacco companies for obvious reasons. Lesser known
cash cows include rehab facilities dependent upon addicts who could be
using cannabis to kick hard drugs, and drug testing companies getting
fat from mandatory workplace and court-ordered drug testing. Witness the
fact that the companies building and operating private prisons are
growing while the rest of the economy is shrinking. Prison Industrial Complex It’s fixed across the grid, don’t matter what you did ’cause the companies that own the prisons keep the bodies comin’ in. ~ Buxter Hoot’n, “Chief Justice Shepherd” During alcohol prohibition, organized crime flourished, and so did “law and order.” The
same thing is happening today. An entire industry is growing up around
the prosecution and incarceration of drug offenders, most of them
non-violent users of medical or recreational drugs, even as the truly
dangerous drug cartels get bigger. Among these prisoners are medical
marijuana cultivators and dispensary owners who, when they were busted,
were operating in full compliance with state law. Because
marijuana is still prohibited at the federal level, medical marijuana
dispensaries and gardens are being raided and people imprisoned, even in
states where voters have legalized it. An undercover cop with a fake ID
and a legitimate doctor’s recommendation need only make a few purchases
from a medical marijuana dispensary and…gotcha!...
he’s caught himself a kingpin. By listing the same “crime” – selling
marijuana – over and over, police can pile on felonies, including
conspiracy charges, setting up hapless dispensary owners as “kingpins”
while the real kingpins go free. Once in court,
prosecutors “for the People” determine the charges, some of which come
with mandatory minimum sentences. Mandatory minimums, enacted by
Congress in 1986 during the Reagan/Bush administration, were intended to
stop trafficking by international drug cartels. But by taking
sentencing control away from judges and putting it in the hands of
prosecutors, they also stopped judges from judging. Thanks to mandatory
minimums, a judge no longer decides whether the punishment fits the
crime. Other than the
actual drug cartels the conspiracy laws were meant to stop, the prison
industrial complex seems to be one of the few real winners in this
twisted game. Jury Nullification: A Citizen’s Only Weapon You are the law. ~ Paul Newman, The Verdict Most of us assume the function of a jury is
to determine a defendant’s guilt or innocence. But did you know a juror
is also responsible for judging the law itself? That’s right. The power to change a bad law is in the hands of one person. Any person. You, if you happen to be sitting on a jury. An individual juror has the power to say, This is a bad law; not guilty. Just like that. Hung jury. Trial over. We the People have the power to change the
law, case by case, courtroom by courtroom. Nobody, not the judge, not
the cops, not the President of the United States, can punish jurors for
exercising their right to repudiate, or nullify, the law that put the
defendant on trial in the first place if they find the law unjust.
That’s the way our forefathers intended it. People do have the power. We
just have to remember how to use it. It’s called “Jury Nullification,”
and other than the right to vote, it’s the only true power granted an
individual citizen in the United States Constitution. We may, in the War on Drugs, be up against
an historic governmental and corporate monolith -- we may be David to
their Goliath -- but the one stone in our sling, Jury Nullification, is a
righteous and effective one. Used often enough, it results in changing
laws. Just Say, “Not Guilty.” The Two Joes: A Deal Goes Down in Long Beach I
consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by
which a government can be held to the principles of its Constitution. ~ Thomas Jefferson On Friday, August 5, 2011, Joe Grumbine and
Joe Byron were offered another deal. Referred to as a “wobbler,” the
deal stipulated that each would have a felony on their record for “a
year or so.” After that, the judge would have the option of reducing it
to a misdemeanor, as long as they didn’t get into trouble with the law
in the meantime. They turned it down. They’re going to trial. Joe Grumbine and Joe Byron have put their
fate in the hands of a jury. Court support teams are organizing carpools
so people from all over Southern California can stand in solidarity
with them. “Everything is stacked against us,” said Grumbine. “This is
true courtroom drama. Anything can happen.” Grumbine and Byron will be in court on August 16th
for the start of jury instructions. So far, they’ve been denied an
affirmative defense, meaning they have not been allowed to tell the
judge – nor will they be allowed to tell the jury – that they were
operating a medical marijuana dispensary in compliance with state law.
The jurors may never hear their side of the story. They may be
instructed to hand down a verdict based strictly on a list of felonies.
If that happens, Joe and Joe are looking at hard time in a state
penitentiary. The state Appellate Court rejected their
motion to dismiss the case based on their denial of defense. They have a
new appeal pending with the state Supreme Court. In effect, they still
have a chance to start over with an affirmative defense. But the very
real prospect of going to trial without one hangs over them like -- to
borrow another phrase from the late Dr. Hunter S. Thompson -- a
million-pound shithammer. Court support starts at 7:00 AM with breakfast at Egg Heaven (4358 East 4th
Street, Long Beach, CA 90814) courtesy of owner and co-defendant Joe
Byron. Green Solidarity Ribbons will be provided. Simply wearing one in
public will help educate the jury pool. Court Support: 8:30 AM Tuesday, August 16, 2011 Long Beach Superior Court, Room 508 415 West Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach, California 90802 Trial Date: August 22 – 30, 2011. Solidarity Ribbons and ride-shares are also available through The Human Solution, 951-436-6312. ****** In 1995 Cynthia Johnston directed public relations for an online publication, Sources eJournal,
covering intelligence, espionage and terrorism. There, she wrote a
three-part series, “Confessions of a CIA Brat.” She also wrote a
business column, “In the Loop,” for an independent filmmaking web
publication and several pieces for Bay Area computer magazine Micro Times. After Sources
went down in the dot.com crash of the late Nineties, she took a leap of
faith, moved into a funky cab-over camper, and started living curbside
on the streets of San Francisco. She began her first blog before
blogging was a word. Her online journal earned her the opportunity to
write a piece, “Mobile Homeless,” for The San Francisco Chronicle. She’s been blogging ever since. Johnston
began writing about her experience as a medical marijuana patient as
soon as she “got legal.” She went public on behalf of legalization in
1980 with the California Marijuana Initiative and a headline: “Marijuana
Protester Busted at High Noon.”
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