I recently read a book titled “Marijuana is Safer So Why Are We Driving Ourselves To Drink” that compared marijuana use to the use of alcohol and tobacco. The book presents compelling evidence from multiple sources showing that marijuana is far safer than either of the legal recreational drugs currently sold in America.
For example The World Health Organization (WHO) in the mid-1990s commissioned a group of scientists to compare the health effects and societal consequences of cannabis use with that of other drugs including alcohol, nicotine and opiates. The researchers concluded: “Overall, most of these risks (associated with marijuana) are small to moderate in size. In aggregate they are unlikely to produce public health problems comparable in scale to those currently produced by alcohol and tobacco….. On existing patterns of use, cannabis poses a much less serious public health problem than is currently posed by alcohol and tobacco in Western societies” The WHO ultimately removed these findings in the 1997 final report, “Cannabis: A Health Perspective and Research Agenda” after allegedly receiving pressure from the United Sates which argued that such conclusions would undermine its criminal prohibition of marijuana.
A French study at the state medical research institute INSERM published a similar review in 1998. The researchers divided legal and illegal drugs into three categories from those that posed the most danger to society to the drugs with the least impact on society. Alcohol, heroin and cocaine were listed in the most dangerous category and tobacco and hallucinogens were categorized as having a moderate risk to society. Investigators determined that cannabis posed the least risk to public health among all the drugs studied.
A 1989 research advisory panel for the state of California reviewed the health effects of marijuana and alcohol. They concluded “An objective consideration of marijuana shows that it is responsible for less damage to the individual or society than alcohol and cigarettes”. The state’s attorney general refused to publicly release the report.
A 2002 special Canadian senate committee completed an exhaustive review of marijuana and health, finding that “scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a social and public health issue”. The senators concluded their report by asking that cannabis be legalized for consumers age 16 and older. This was ignored by the majority of Parliament.
IN 2007, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare hired a team of scientists to assess the impact of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs on public health. “Alcohol harm was responsible for 3.2% of the total burden of disease and injury in Australia,” they concluded “Of the 14 risk factors examined, alcohol was responsible for the greatest amount of burden in males under the age of 45” By comparison, cannabis use was responsible for zero deaths and only 0.2% of the estimated burden of disease and injury in Australia.
The same year a team of experts conducted a similar review for the British medical journal Lancet. They also concluded that alcohol posed a far greater health and safety risk than cannabis.
In 2008 a team of researchers for the British think tank the Beckley Foundation published a report assessing marijuana’s risk to health. They concluded “The public health impact of contemporary patterns of cannabis use are modest by comparison with those of other illicit drugs (such as the opioids) or with alcohol. In the former the case reflects the absence of fatal overdose risk from cannabis. In the latter case, it reflects the much lower risks of death from cannabis than alcohol-impaired driving, fewer adverse effects on health, lower rates of regular use to intoxication for cannabis than alcohol, and the lower rate of persistence of cannabis use into older adulthood”
An interesting note on this book is the forward that was written by Norm Stamper who was previously the Chief of police for the city of Seattle. “He had the habit of asking police officers from around the country two questions. First:” When’s the last time you had a fight with someone under the influence of marijuana? ( And by this I mean marijuana only , not pot plus a six-pack or a fifth of tequila. My colleagues pause; they reflect. Their eyes widen as they realize in their five or fifteen or thirty years on the job they have never had to fight a marijuana user. I then ask, “When’s the last time you had to fight a drunk?” They look at their watches. It’s telling that the booze question is answered in terms of hours, not days or weeks.”
The book is a good read and offers far more information and sources that can be provided in this short article. It was written by Steve Fox, Paul Armentano and Mason Tvert. It is also telling that with the vast amount of information available claiming that marijuana is safer, not only for the individual user but also for society, than alcohol or tobacco our government steadfastly refuses to consider the evidence. Who are they protecting? Big Business? It’s certainly not the users of marijuana.
Call or write your Congressmen, Senators and President and ask them to legalize marijuana and remove this burden from our lives. We are not the enemy, We are Americans.

Randy Johnson
Itsmycountrytoo.org

The continued war against medical marijuana defies logic on so many levels it is very hard to understand why the United States Government has taken its position on this issue. In July 0f 2011 the DEA ruled again that marijuana had no known medical use yet past investigations and mountains of evidence refute these claims.

In 1972 NORML petitioned the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs to have marijuana rescheduled from a Schedule 1 drug. After 16 years of stonewalling by The United States Government a hearing was finally scheduled in September 1988. DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis Young after hearing extensive testimony from patients and doctors on the medical benefits of marijuana proclaimed “In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many of the foods we commonly consume. For example eating 10 raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By comparison it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death. Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care.” It was determined that marijuana was effective in controlling nausea associated with chemotherapy and also pain and spasms associated with Multiple Sclerosis. She recommended that marijuana be rescheduled to a Schedule 2 drug and that still has not happened. (Marijuana Rescheduling Petition Docket No. 86-22)

When the Controlled Substances Act became law in 1970 part of the law authorized a special federal commission to complete a comprehensive study into all aspects of marijuana use to confirm that marijuana should remain a schedule 1 drug. After 2 years of study it was claimed to be the most comprehensive study of marijuana ever done in the United States. On March 22 1972 Richard Nixon was presented the report from the study entitled “Marijuana; A Signal of Misunderstanding”. The study refuted the claims by politicians and law enforcement of the negative effects and crime associated with marijuana. It claimed in plain language that marijuana use was not associated with violent behavior and even went on to say that it tends to pacify its users. The report stated that there is little evidence of any physiological or psychological damage to individuals from casual use and emphasized the fact that the overwhelming majority of marijuana users do not progress to other drugs. It also recommended that marijuana be rescheduled and that private possession and use should not be criminalized. It even called for Congress to remove all criminal penalties for possession, use, and sale of the drug. These recommendations were ignored by Richard Nixon and Congress who over the next few months declared war on drugs and labeled marijuana “Public Enemy Number One”.

Justic Gustin Reichbach of the New York state Supreme Court who just died July 14th, had been suffering from pancreatic cancer and he claimed marijuana gave him relief from nausea associated with chemotherapy in a moving op-ed piece in the New York Times this last May. “Because criminalizing an effective medical technique affects the fair administration of justice, I feel obliged to speak out as both a judge and a cancer patient suffering with a fatal disease. I implore the governor and the Legislature of New York, always considered a leader among states, to join the forward and humane thinking of 16 other states and pass the medical marijuana bill this year. Medical science has not yet found a cure, but it is barbaric to deny us access to one substance that has proved to ameliorate our suffering.”

Dr. Donald Tashkin has done an extensive 30 year study of marijuana on pulmonary function at the University of California and reviewed several other similar studies and come to the conclusion that using marijuana does not increase the occurrence of COPD nor does it increase the risks of head, neck or lung cancer even in heavy use. Video testimony by Dr. Tashkin can be seen at http://mmar.ca/multimedia.html. Dr. Tashkin has also stated that he favors the legalization of marijuana. The DEA is still quoting Dr Tashkin’s original hypothesis about marijuana use from about 20 years ago when he stated that marijuana has many of the same carcinogens as tobacco and believed marijuana may cause cancer. Dr Tashkin no longer believes that is true. In fact marijuana has been shown to have a mild cancer fighting effect.

According to reuters.com an Israeli company named Tikun Olam has developed a strain of marijuana called Avidekel with very low THC content but high in CBD (Cannabidiol) that has anti-inflammatory benefits without the psychoactive effects. Ruth Galily who works for the company and has been studying CBD for more than 12 years said CBD has impressive anti-inflammatory properties and can be used for treating diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Colitis, liver inflammation, heart disease and diabetes and has no side effects. Marijuana is used in Israel to treat Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, cancer, Crohn’s disease, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

According to Time Healthland http://healthland.time.com/2012/06/14/10-reasons-to-revisit-marijuana-policy-now/#americans-increasingly-favor-reform recent studies conclude marijuana is effective in treating opioid resistant pain associated with cancer, the spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis and post-traumatic stress disorder. Another study concluded CBD another component of marijuana can treat schizophrenia as effective as prescription drugs without the side effects. Also THC and CBD have shown cancer fighting abilities against lung cancer.In the same article studies have found no link to crime associated with medical-marijuana dispensaries and real marijuana is probably far safer than the synthetic cannabinoids sold such as K2 or Spice.

A study title Ganja in Jamaica- A Medical Anthropological Study of Chronic Marijuana Use by Vera Rubin and Lambros Comitas and sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health Center for Studies of Narcotic and Drug Abuse found no relation of marijuana use to crime except marijuana arrest, no impairment of motor skills, smokers and nonsmokers had identical work records and a battery of psychological test found no impairment of sensory and perceptual-motor performance, tests of concept formation, abstracting ability and cognitive style and tests of memory. Also the study found that the use of hard drugs is unknown among working class Jamaicans. These studies were confirmed by the 1980 Cannabis in Costa Rica- A study in Chronic Marijuana Use which found no discernible damage to the native population’s chronic marijuana users.

The American Medical Association House of Delegates as of October 16th 2011 is calling for the rescheduling of marijuana to allow for research into medical benefits of marijuana. Melvin Sterling, MD a California Medical Association delegate stated “Schedule 1 is very appropriate for heroin and other noxious substances that have no place in medicine, but cannabinoids are useful drugs. There is compelling research that cannabinoids are helpful in treating the spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis and in persistent nausea associated with chemotherapy and they may have other uses yet undiscovered. Why are they undiscovered? Because it’s a schedule 1 drug.” The AMA House of Delegates stopped short of endorsing state-based medical marijuana programs and the legalization of marijuana or admitting marijuana meets standards for prescription drugs.

Amednews.com ran an article by Alicia Gallegos June 16 2012 about a handful of governors petitioning the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to have marijuana reclassified. Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire and Rhodde Island Governor Lincoln Chefee had signed the petition as of Dec 2011. Colorado Governor John Hinkenlooper’s administration has made a similar request. According to Gregoire, poll after poll shows an overwhelming majority of Americans now see medical marijuana as legitimate with an ever-growing number of doctors telling thousands of patients that they might find relief in the use of marijuana. http://www.amaassn.org/amednews/2012/01/16/gvsc0116.htm#top

According to The Sacramento Bee, over a dozen years, California’s historic experiment in medical marijuana research brought new science to the debate on marijuana’s place in medicine. State-funded studies costing $8.7 million found that marijuana may offer broad benefits for pain from nerve damage from injuries, HIV strokes and other conditions. Between 2002 and 2012, 7 completed trials, 5 published and 2 pending show that marijuana does have therapeutic value. According to Dr. Igor Grant a neuropsychiatrist who served as director of the Center for Medical Cannabis Research “ Every one of the studies showed a benefit, The convergence of evidence makes me convinced there is a medical benefit here, and there may be a niche for cannabis.” Grant said the listing of marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug on par with heroin and LSD is completely at odds with existing science.

In an article at newsfeed.time.com : According to a U.N. report on global drug use, cannabis was the world’s most widely produced, trafficked, and consumed drug in the world in 2010. Marijuana boasts somewhere between 119 million and 224 million users in the adult population of the world (18 or older). And there are no signs to indicate the popularity of marijuana will fall anytime soon. Cannabis is consumed in some fashion in all countries, the report says, and it is grown in most. Though the use of the drug is stabilizing in North America, and Oceania, smoking pot is on the rise in West and Central Africa, Southern Africa, South Asia and Central Asia. In 2010, marijuana use was most prevalent in Australia and New Zealand. The U.S. and Canada came in second, followed by Spain, France, Italy, and the Czech Republic. Nigeria, Zambia, and Madagascar were tied for fourth place.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/06/29/marijuana-now-the-most-popular-drug-in-the-world/#ixzz217BPdvD4
With marijuana now being the worlds’ most popular recreational drug and evidence shows that it is far safer than the other most popular recreational drugs, tobacco and alcohol. Why does our government insist on refusing to allow 16 states to continue the medical marijuana experiment without the harassment of otherwise law-abiding citizens? These states voted in their right to access medical marijuana by due process and yet the Federal Government refuses to honor the will of the American people. There is really no good reason to keep marijuana illegal for recreational purposes let alone forbidding the sick and dying the one thing that brings them relief. To forbid the sick and dying the things that bring them relief is nothing short of barbaric.

Just because marijuana is illegal for recreational reasons has not stopped or even diminished its use any appreciable amount. Many people enjoy using marijuana and historical evidence has failed to show that marijuana has caused appreciable damage to its users or society as a whole. While this may still be debatable about marijuana and I believe it is high time we had that debate, the evidence against alcohol and tobacco are no longer in question. Why not give people a safer alternative to the worst recreational drugs on the planet, alcohol and tobacco when considered by the number of people killed by these drugs every year and the damage to society from the violent crime associated with alcohol, and let people choose for themselves the safest recreational drug on the planet that is now the most popular drug in the world.

Beginning this article I mentioned that it is hard to understand our government’s reasons for its stance against marijuana use. It can’t be that they are worried about our health, because it is not nearly as harmful as tobacco or alcohol when considered by the number of fatalities associated with each drug every year. And with millions of people currently using marijuana and scarce evidence of any damage to society, who and what are they protecting us from? Juvenile use would be easier to control if the people selling marijuana were required to check IDs to make sure customers were of appropriate age.
The only thing that makes any sense to me is that marijuana as a plant cannot be patented and that the government may be protecting the Pharmaceutical Industry, the Alcohol Industry and the Tobacco Industry from competition with marijuana. These are industrial giants with enormous influence on our elected officials who are supposed to be charged with protecting our freedom. My question is, Have We Been Sold Out? Call or write your Congressmen, Senators and President and ask them.

Randy Johnson
itsmycountrytoo.org

I have been scanning the news and stumbled on a few articles that startled me. First was a story at infowars.com about milk raids in California. Armed raids led by L A County Health Department on raw milk distribution centers and health officials in Los Angeles and San Diego have been trying to coerce the milk distributors into releasing names, addresses and phone numbers of their clients so that they could go to people’s houses and demand the raw milk for confiscation.
Next was a story at Reason.com where The Institute for Justice filed a lawsuit against the state of North Carolina on behalf of Steve Cooksey. His offense was promoting an anti-diabetes diet that consists of foods consumed by ancient humans in the Paleolithic era. This diet consists of meats, fruits and vegetables and excludes grains, seed oils and sugars. Even though Steve is just a blogger writing about something he believes is correct, not paid for his dietary advice, and no evidence to contradict his claims have been established, North Carolina wants to forbid his free speech because he is not a Licensed Dietician. It appears North Carolina not only is opposed to free speech but of our right to choose our own diet.
Also I’m sure you have all heard in the news about New York City and Cambridge trying to ban sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces with several other communities looking to follow suit. While I do appreciate research and advice about diet and exercise and want to live a healthy lifestyle those decisions about my own health and safety should be mine as a free person not the decision of some bureaucrat or politician.
There are communities in this country where smoking is prohibited even on your own property such as Calabasas, CA and possession of alcohol is treated the same as possession of illegal drugs in some places in Alaska. My point in all this is that if we do not secure the right to make decisions about our own health and safety our freedom is doomed. I’m not trying to scare people but before long nothing in our lives will be beyond the prying eyes of our government. A new laser powered molecular scanner set to be used at airports has the ability to determine if a person is armed and what they have been consuming from a distance of 50 meters and be able to scan large numbers of people very quickly. With the government reading our texts and email and using spy drones on us we have no place to hide. Soon this technology will be available not only to The Department of Homeland Security but local police as well. Nothing in our lives will be a secret and The Department of Homeland Security is in the process of purchasing 450 million rounds of .40 caliber hollow point ammunition.
What kind of war is our government preparing for? Could it be the adoption of the U N treaty banning civilian gun ownership and the confiscation of our firearms? Or do they just want to protect us from bad diet and vices such as smoking? All this makes the prohibition of marijuana seem trivial. We need to act now to secure our rights to consume what we want and make our own decisions about our health and safety. The time to speak up and demand our rights is getting shorter and the need to vote out the set of political leaders we have never more important. We need people in office that believe in freedom and the sovereignty of our nation. Vote for Joe the plumber or anyone but the politicians we now have. I fear if we do not the freedom we now have will be short-lived. It’s time to nip it in the bud.

Randy Johnson
Itsmycountrytoo.org

Tracy from Twin Falls, Idaho called and asked what he could do to help and this is a copy of the letter I sent him as I believe it applies to all who want to get involved.

Thanks for your interest in the legalization of marijuana. There are several things that you as an individual can do. Most important is to write to your Congressman, Senator and President and tell them that you believe it is time for the Federal Government to get out of the business of trying to ruin the lives of Americans for something morally indifferent than drinking alcohol, and don’t neglect to vote. I know NORML.org and MPP.org have a place on their web sites where you can get the names and addresses of your representatives by typing in your zip code. ACLU.org posts the voting records and a biography of your representatives by zip code. Become active and vocal about your support for marijuana legalization by talking to your friends and anyone else who will listen. There are many good pro marijuana organizations that fight for legalization of marijuana in different ways. A little time on the computer would likely help you find an organization that fits your goals and beliefs. All of these organizations rely on donations to pay their bills and need any money that you could donate. You might even want to start some kind of fund raiser such as a bake sale. Don’t do anything illegal as your arrest and incarceration would not help you or our cause. The main thing is to educate ourselves so that we can present our cause in a rational manner that will influence those who haven’t made up their mind about marijuana and possibly change the minds of those who are against it.
Live Free My Friends
Randy Johnson
itsmycountrytoo.org

T J from Corpus Christi, TX,
I have been thinking a lot about what you wrote concerning using Gods Word to justify sin and you are right. I do not want to lead anyone to believe that God approves of marijuana use. The only recreational drug I have found reference to in scripture is alcohol and the Bible clearly states that drunkenness is a sin. But T J we must use scripture to justify our actions if we truly believe in God or we are not following God’s will. I do not know what God thinks of marijuana and scripture is silent on this issue. I do know however that God loves the truth and that is clearly stated over and over in scripture.
I am not advocating that anyone use any drug including marijuana. I just want to get our government out of the business of trying to ruin people’s lives because of it. If marijuana is so bad that it must be banned from all aspects of society then why does our government use lies and misinformation to keep public opinion against marijuana and sustain this unjust war? I am doing this, not out of a love for marijuana, but a love for the truth and people close to me that I believe are unjustly punished by the War on Drugs.
As for personal use of marijuana I would suggest prayer, fear and careful consideration because nothing could be worse than to fall into the hands of an angry God.
Thanks a lot T J
God Bless You
Randy Johnson
Itsmycountrytoo.org

Comment on Celebrations and Scripture by Tj from corpus Christi tx
‎Friday, ‎July ‎06, ‎2012, ‏‎11:52:38 PM | Tj from corpus Christi tx
Your right and your wrong and I think you are wrong to use the bible to convince people that sin is ok let me ask you this is it ok for some one to smoke crack, sale dope, use heroine or any other kind of drug for that matter as long as they do it conservitilty?if you said yes to this then you agree that it’s ok for people to Rape, steal, kill and do what they please and use that same excuse that it’s ok because I only raped,killed,or only stole from one person wrong is wrong no matter how you look at it and that why god not man created laws for people like you and your way of thinking and to answer your question yes we’re free to do as we’re told and yes we’re free people the choice is yours and so are the consequences on the other hand I agree that as long as what you do doesn’t affect any one around you or impair your way of thinking then go for it that’s your choice as a free man and gods gift to you to decide what’s right and what’s wrong and make the right decision I just want to warn you watch what you say because the power of the tongue is strong and you can get many people to believe that god said for them to go smoke weed and be happy choose your words more carefully and try not to use god to get what you want unless it’s everlasting life because the same words that come out your mouth can be the same words That condem you, you asked for a reply so here it is and if your serious about how you feel you’ll post it and just so you know my name is Theodore Coleman I go by tj on the streets I’m from north side corpus Christi tx I’m no preacher and far from a saint but I’m also not scared to share how I feel on my beliefs about god can you do the same ill be looking forward to your reply thank you and god bless

Richard Milhous Nixon (AKA) Tricky Dicky served as The 37th President of The United States of America. He is most famous for the Watergate Scandal where members of his administration conducted clandestine and often illegal activities such as bugging the offices of political opponents and people of whom Nixon or his officials were suspicious. Nixon and his aides also ordered harassment of activist groups and political figures, using the FBI, CIA, and the IRS. It was a time when the Vietnam War was very unpopular and protests against the war were prominently displayed in the news.

While in office the Controlled Substances Act became law and part of the law authorized a special federal commission to complete a comprehensive study into all aspects of marijuana use to confirm that marijuana should remain a schedule 1 drug. After 2 years of study it was claimed to be the most comprehensive study of marijuana ever done in the United States. On March 22 1972 Richard Nixon was presented the report from the study entitled “Marijuana; A Signal of Misunderstanding”. The study refuted the claims by politicians and law enforcement of the negative effects and crime associated with marijuana. It claimed in plain language that marijuana use was not associated with violent behavior and even went on to say that it tends to pacify its users. The report stated that there is little evidence of any physiological or psychological damage to the individual from casual use and recommended that marijuana be rescheduled and that private possession and use should not be criminalized. It even called for Congress to remove all criminal penalties for possession, use, and sale of the drug. These recommendations were ignored by Richard Nixon and Congress who over the next few months declared war on drugs and labeled marijuana “Public Enemy Number One”. The problem with declaring war on a drug is that the drug doesn’t care. It doesn’t matter to the drug what happens to it because it is not alive. The war is not being fought against marijuana; it is being waged against the people who use it with bitterness and vengeance. Marijuana users are some of the most hated people in this country and I can only wonder why society wants to ruin our lives through denied employment, fines, incarceration, seizures of our property and a myriad of other offences against us and our families. If there is something so horrible and offensive about marijuana use that it can never be accepted in society, not even in private, what is it?
End the war against the people who use marijuana now. It is unjust and a travesty for all those caught up in the conflict. We are not the enemies of this country. We are Americans

Randy Johnson
Itsmycountrytoo.org

I once heard someone say “May you live in interesting times” is an old Chinese curse.
The times we live in are anything but boring. In America most of us travel with cell phones many of which are mini computers in their own right. Communication with one another is as easy as typing with your thumbs. We can navigate in strange places using our phones and have a wealth of information at our fingertips and even watch movies that we have recorded at home or downloaded from the internet. The possibilities seem unlimited yet have we really considered the cost of this technology. Not only has our access to technology grown but so has that of our government. We live in an age where access to our personal lives has never been so vulnerable to invasion. Our cell phone calls and e-mail are readily available to eavesdropping by local police and Federal investigators for almost any reason at all.
An online article at MSNBC.msn.com by Bob Sullivan on 7/6/12 describes an investigation by the American Civil Liberties Union into local police using cell phone locations to track subjects. Generally subpoenas were all that was required for the police to get that information and it can be used to track our movements for months past. The 1986 Electronics Communication Privacy Act sets guidelines for police that any information stored externally for more than 6 months is open for review such as G-Mail and any other cloud server email. Although the government is silent on these issues and ignoring Freedom of Information requests about what its intentions are, they are not denying any of this either. While all this is going on the U.S government is jumping headlong into this technological windfall with its massive new “Utah Data Center” which Wired Magazine claimed is capable of monitoring every email and text message sent around the world. Not only does the government want access to the most private parts of our lives, “the relationships we have with one another” but they want to watch us as well. They are setting the stage to have surveillance drones such as the Global Hawk and the Predator Drones flying our skies in the near future. Flying Magazine revealed new FAA regulations are in the works to allow unmanned aircraft over the United States and testing software designed to keep them out of conflict with general aviation.
With our lives so much in the looking-glass I believe it is time for us to set some boundaries on how and when such information can be used against us. We now live in an age where our lives are an open book, no knock warrants are common and our President declared in his election campaign that he wanted a Federal police force as big and powerful as our military. I believe freedom as we know it is in peril. If we don’t set boundaries on this surveillance and describe in detail what our freedoms are, we are in danger of losing them. Many of the freedoms we believe we have are not defined in the Constitution of the United States. The Declaration of Independence declares some of these as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. While we still have these rights to some degree our government is eroding these freedoms all the time with laws telling us what kind of appliances we can buy, what type of toilet or light bulb we have to install and what size soft drink we can purchase. Now we are even required to purchase health insurance even if we feel we don’t want it or need it. There seems to be no end to how much control the government wants over our lives. I believe if we do not secure the right to make decisions about our own personal health and safety our freedom is lost. Already our government wants a say in the medical decisions we make for ourselves, our children and family and have stepped in when they disagreed. How long will it be after they win the war against marijuana when alcohol and tobacco become their targets and who is next, the obese? Maybe Orsom Wells was not that far off. Interesting times indeed.

Randy Johnson
Itsmycountrytoo.org

For those of you who disagree with me about the legalization of marijuana for religious reasons I would like you to consider a few verses of scripture from The Bible (New International Version).

Deut 14:22-27
22 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. 23 Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always. 24 But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the LORD your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the LORD will choose to put his Name is so far away), 25 then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. 26 Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice. 27 And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own. NIV

Prov 31:1-9
The sayings of King Lemuel — an oracle his mother taught him:
2 “O my son, O son of my womb, O son of my vows,
3 do not spend your strength on women, your vigor on those who ruin kings.
4 “It is not for kings, O Lemuel — not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer,
5 lest they drink and forget what the law decrees, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.
6 Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish;
7 let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.
8 “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.
9 Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” NIV

John 2:1-11
2:1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” 4 “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” 11 This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. NIV

I do not want to give the impression that God approves of marijuana. I don’t know what God thinks of marijuana and the Bible is silent on this issue. However I have read in many places throughout the Bible where wine is used not only as a sacrament but also used in celebrations but the bible clearly states that drunkenness is a sin. I believe this is because we are required to be responsible with our freedom and as most of you know, drunks are not very responsible. It is not the wine itself that is sinful, but irresponsible use of it. If simple morality is to be the gauge for the legalization of marijuana how is its use any different from the use of alcohol?

Randy Johnson
Itsmycountrytoo.org

At the passing of this Independence Day as a citizen of this country and a faithful American I can attest that we live in the greatest nation on the planet. We have liberties that are the envy of people all over the world. We have the right to free speech even against our own government and that is a wonderful thing when our rights are oppressed. Many people have been oppressed over the years since our country was founded like the Indians the Blacks and Women, and many have won equal freedom largely due to their insistence and perseverance in face of oppression. Brave Americans like Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy and Dr Martin Luther King Jr who fought for our rights at the cost of their own lives. Women’s rights advocates like Susan B. Anthony, Alice Pool and Lucy Burns and all the others who have stood for equal freedom in all forms and for all people. To all of those who have raised your voice in support of equal freedom and those brave men and women who have fought in support of our nation I salute you. It is people like you who have forged the way for the freedom we have and we owe our freedom to you. The only way to repay that debt is to insure that the next generation of Americans share in that freedom by providing them liberty and justice for all.
Let’s legalize marijuana now because there is no justice is persecuting and prosecuting people for a crime that is morally indifferent than drinking alcohol. Public decency laws are adequate to prevent people from doing things in public if they are offensive to society. If there is something so offensive about marijuana that it can’t be used by adults in private, I beg to ask. What is it? What about my liberty?

Randy Johnson
itsmycountrytoo.org

LAWS BUILT ON LIES SHOULD NOT STAND
LIE: “There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others” (Harry J. Anslinger)
TRUTH: Obviously a racist agenda.

LIE: “…the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.” (Harry J. Anslinger)
TRUTH: Obviously a racist agenda.

LIE: “Marijuana causes insanity criminality and death” (Harry J. Anslinger)
TRUTH: No such evidence exists.

LIE: “Marijuana is the most violence causing drug in the history of mankind” (Harry J. Anslinger)
TRUTH: No such evidence exists. Evidence by the lack of response to the Governments continued war on marijuana users would indicate passiveness.

CONTRADICTION and LIE: Harry J. Anslinger testified to Congress in 1948 that Marijuana rendered its users pacifist and so peaceful that they would lose the will to fight and that the Communists could use this to sap our soldiers will to fight. (The Emperor Wears No Cloths, Jack Herer)
TRUTH: Marijuana use in the Vietnam conflict was prevalent but did not keep our soldiers from fighting.

TRUTH: The Marijuana Tax Act was passed in the Senate after a question was asked if the AMA approved of the legislation and Congressman Vinson LIED and said the AMA supported the legislation after Dr Woodward had testified that The AMA disapproved. (The Marijuana Conviction, Bonnie and Whitebread II)

LIE: Marijuana causes brain damage. (DARE Program)
TRUTH: Over a period of 6 years Playboy, NORML, and High Times had to sue the Federal Government under the Freedom of Information Act to find out the methodology of the study. Dr Heath/Tulane Study, 1974 Rhesus Monkeys were administered 63 joints of Columbian grade marijuana through a gas mask with no oxygen in 5 minutes over a 3 month period. The fact that the monkeys survived the ordeal at all is a testament to how nontoxic marijuana really is. The brain damage was caused by oxygen deprivation in combination with carbon monoxide poisoning. It was simply a study of asphyxiation associated with heavy smoke inhalation. (The Emperor Wears No Cloths, Jack Herer)

LIE: The narcotic content in Marijuana decreases the rate of the heart beat and causes irregularity of the pulse. Death may result from the effect on the heart.
Prolonged use of Marijuana frequently develops a delirious rage which sometimes leads to high crimes, such as assault and murder. Hence Marijuana is called the “killer drug.” The habitual use of this narcotic poison always causes a very marked mental deterioration and sometimes causes insanity. Hence Marijuana is frequently called “loco weed.”
While the Marijuana habit leads to physical wreckage and mental decay, its effects upon character and morality are even more devastating. The victim frequently undergoes such moral degeneracy that he will lie and steal without scruple; he becomes utterly untrustworthy and often drifts into the underworld, where with his degenerate companions, he commits high crimes and misdemeanors. Marijuana sometimes gives man the lust to kill, unreasonably and without motive. Many cases of assault, rape, robbery, and murder are traced to the use of Marijuana. (1936 anti-marijuana pamphlet from the World Narcotic Defense Association) (The Marijuana Conviction, Bonnie and Whitebread II)
TRUTH: There is just no evidence to support these claims.

LIE: Marijuana has no known medical use.
TRUTH: In 1972 NORML petitioned Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs to have marijuana rescheduled from a Schedule 1 drug. After 16 years of stonewalling by The United States Government a hearing was finally scheduled in September 1988. DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis Young after hearing extensive testimony from patients and doctors on the medical benefits of marijuana proclaimed “In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many of the foods we commonly consume. For example eating 10 raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By comparison it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death. Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care.” It was determined that marijuana was effective in controlling nausea associated with chemotherapy, pain, and spasms associated with Multiple Sclerosis. She recommended that marijuana be rescheduled to a Schedule 2 drug and that still has not happened. (Marijuana Rescheduling Petition Docket No. 86-22)

For many decades marijuana use has been portrayed as a menace to society using yellow journalism and scare tactics to incite fear among people about the dangers of marijuana use. In almost all cases the evidence posted is exaggerated or fabricated with the sole purpose to scare people into believing that action must be taken to save our youth from marijuana or they will end up insane, dead or in prison. Harry J. Anslinger was a master at this propaganda often addressing Congress about the evils of marijuana while reciting sensationalist articles about crimes attributed to marijuana use from William Randolph Hurst’s vast array of newspapers and describing in horrid details how marijuana was destroying the youth of our country. Some believe and the circumstantial evidence is compelling that marijuana was made illegal to protect William Randolph Hurst’s timber industry as well as the Dupont fiber industry from competition with hemp. Whatever the reason for making marijuana illegal, its prohibition has done far more damage to society than marijuana could have ever done on its own. Our country now has the highest per capita incarceration rate of any nation on earth and this is mostly because of the war on drugs with special emphasis on marijuana. Since there is no moral difference between using marijuana and any other drug including alcohol and tobacco why are we as a society using the power of the Federal Government as a tool to try to ruin the lives of those who chose to use marijuana. Many marijuana users believe that marijuana use is safer and healthier than alcohol or tobacco use and the evidence to support these beliefs is steadily growing. Study after study refute and dispel claims of ill effects and damage done to marijuana users and some are even showing health benefits attributed to casual use of marijuana.
If the allegations of marijuana being made illegal at the behest of William Randolph Hurst and the Dupont Corporation are true then our freedom was sold to corporate America to increase profit for them and protect their business interest. If the allegations are not true then we were just duped into panic to save ourselves from an imaginary plague. Either way we should end the travesty that has harmed our freedom and our image to the rest of the world. For a nation that promotes freedom and democracy for the rest of the world, we aren’t doing a very good job of keeping our house in order. If we are a free people we should stop the practice of trying to ruin the lives of marijuana users for doing something morally indifferent that drinking alcohol. As a child we would recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school and the last phrase was “With Liberty and Justice for All”. There is no justice in persecuting people for using marijuana and the war against drugs is eroding our liberty. Let’s stop the madness and end the war against marijuana and its users.

Randy Johnson
Itsmycountrytoo.org