I'm not going to bother to link to any of these stories... there are simply too many I've run across today. A brief summary:
Seattle Times: the local police don't think sick people should be smoking cannabis. However, under Washington State Law, they can't be arresting people who are using medical marijuana. Their solution is rather novel - allege illegal trafficking, grab everything in sight, and when it turns out that it is all legitimate, turn everything over to the federal government! Everything in this case turns out to be 12 ounces of cannabis flower bud (the part people want), and 2 pounds of cannabis leaves (the part only the desperate smoke). Grand total of just under 3 pounds of plant material. I'm glad the U.S. Attorney's Office and the D.E.A. have their priorities straight, it's not like tons of cocaine are entering into the U.S. via submarines and porous borders...
LA Times: DEA agents raided a medical marijuana dispensary in Culver City, California, seizing all the money and marijuana they could get their hands on. No one arrested, no one taken into custody. Just smash & grab. Funny, we used to call people who did this "criminals," or "thieves," or "robbers," not "the law." People in the know, now know: DEA stands for 'Drugs and/or Dollars Extraction Agency.' I mean, it's not like there are people dying from cartel violence in Mexico or anything... oh wait, there are!
Washington Post: A mayor for Berwyn Heights just found out that he's no exception to the brutal raids of the police either, as they smashed into his home and killed his dogs. Why? Because he took a package into his house, a package addressed to his wife that contained 32 pounds of marijuana. Did the agents await him to open the package, and not report the drugs as proof that he was purposefully having marijuana sent to his home? No! The package was sealed when they busted in, and he was in his underwear. There are so many ways to properly investigate, but why bother when smashing down doors and shooting people's dogs is so much more fun?
Associated Press: And just in case you think it's nothing but raids, fret not! The Attorney General of Illinois wants a San Francisco coffee maker to stop referencing 'Meth' as a branding for their product. No, all you junkies, it does not actually contain methamphetamine. The fact that an attorney general, who swears to uphold the constitution, would ask someone to censor themselves, just shows how far along the path of insanity our drug policies have taken us: we can't even joke about drugs, because our drug policies are such a joke. And, as the Comedian of the Watchmen (Alan Moore) said, "Hey, I never said it was a good joke!"
It's a little overkill for just one day, hence no extensive analysis. Let's look at the above for a minute though, and reflect: does any of this make any sense whatsoever? When did sick people and slick ads become the #1 priority of the drug warriors? How far along this slippery slope do we have to stumble?
Posted by Malakkar Vohryzek