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

We the people have certain rights that are not listed in the Constitution of The United States. The Declaration of Independence named some of these rights as life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We also have the right to self-defense. We have the right to own property and to sell or trade that property. People are not property. We can’t be owned. Nor can the government tell us how to live our lives. We are a free people. We must be allowed to make all the judgments and decisions about our own health and
safety. These are decisions that make us who we are and the essence of our freedom.

With that in mind I want to bring up several violations of our freedom by The United States Government, which should be trying to protect our freedom not take it away.

The Constitution declares that we have the right to keep and bear arms but you have allowed states and even our capital to deny our right to be armed and to self defend. My right to self defend and bear arms should be the same anywhere in these United States. Vermont got it right.

The war on drugs is by far the most invasive and prevalent violation. We have the right to celebrate life as we see fit without interference from the government. People have been celebrating life with food, alcohol and other drugs, and risky acts since the beginning of history and as long as we can do so in a responsible manner these celebrations should not be regulated. There is no moral difference between drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana and the laws need to reflect that.
The United States Government has in collusion with employers and insurance companies made it very difficult for people who use marijuana to earn a living. We have also been denied a right to purchase or possess firearms. (Gun Control Act ;922(g)(3), 922(d)(3), 478.32(a)(3), 478.32(d)(3)). Since there is little if any evidence to indicate that marijuana in any way promotes violence, our right to self-defense and the right to keep and bear arms should not be abridged arbitrarily without our chance to defend our rights in court.  We have not been represented or allowed to present evidence in our defense. We have been legally separated from society, labeled criminals and persecuted for little if any reason or cause. In some cases children have been taken away from parents just because the parents use marijuana. What if this was done to people who use alcohol. This is a revocation of our right to pursue happiness and the general act of living our lives and it was done without so much as a hearing. What happened to our day in court? Our freedoms are just as important as anyone else’s and should not be taken away just because some people are offended. Local decency laws are adequate to prevent people from doing things in public if they are offensive. If there is something so bad about smoking marijuana that it can’t even be done in private then what is it? End the war on drugs. We are not the enemy. We are Americans!

Seat belt laws and helmet laws are a violation of our right to make our own decisions about our health and safety. While these are great safety items that do save lives and prevent injury the decision to use them is ours and our alone.

Property taxes beyond the tax on the sale are a violation of our right to own property. My property does not belong to the government and I shouldn’t have to keep paying rent (annual taxes) on it to keep it or to will it to others past my death.  It is wrong for government to use eminent domain laws to force the sale of private property from one private entity to another. Imminent domain should only be used to secure necessary infrastructure such as utility easements and roadways and genuine public needs.

While I believe the new airport screenings are also a violation of our rights against illegal searches they are necessary and should continue. Keep in mind the people who
are going through the security screenings to fly are for the most part  the same
people who work everyday to support our economy and way of life. They are also the same people who are sending their sons and daughters to war or maybe have gone themselves to defend our freedoms and way of life and should be treated as such during screenings. We are not the enemy. We are Americans.

What I want from my Government and our leaders if for them to present open honest leadership that keeps our country competitive with other countries for trade, and promotes freedom for all mankind, not by interfering with foreign powers but by being a shining beacon of freedom, fairness and tolerance for diversity. I also want a government that is fiscally responsible. We should have never gotten to the level of debt we have and a serious plan to make our country solvent should be implemented immediately. We need to maintain our strong military but should not use our powers of war except in defense of our country or other countries in alliance with us. People are responsible for their leadership in countries that honor democratic procedures for electing officials. People are also responsible for their leadership when tyrants control their country. If people want to be free they must decide for themselves to throw off oppression from their leaders and not rely on foreign powers to save them. Its only when people will make a stand for freedom that it is won. Sadly our freedom was bought with the blood of our forefathers and our sons and daughters. Our most sacred trust in our elected officials is that they protect that freedom.

God Bless America
Randy Johnson
itsmycountrytoo.org

As I begin this quest for truth and justice I want you to know that I love this country and pray for it to succeed and prosper. My only pain comes from the injustice and damage to our freedom by our own government. We are all citizens of this country and we all deserve the same freedoms and protections afforded us in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and the unalienable rights mentioned in the Declaration of Independence.

Randy Johnson
itsmycountrytoo.org