Marijuana Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

February 3, 2010February 3, 2010About Us

Bill Hunt Talks the Talk: Liberty and Marijuana

I just came across this interview on the “Johnson for America Blog” involving OC Sheriff candidate, former Lt. Bill Hunt. Check it out. I am principally interested in this Q & A exchange on the subject of marijuana:

Josiah Schmidt: As an experienced law enforcement official, what is your opinion on the possibility that California might legalize marijuana in the next election?

Bill Hunt: It is the job of the sheriff to support and uphold the laws of the state. As it stands now, medical marijuana is legal in this state by a vote of the people. It is not the job of the sheriff to try to circumvent the will of the people by collaborating with the federal government. If marijuana is legalized I will treat it just like any other legal activity such as the use of alcohol. Responsible alcohol consumption is not a violation of the law. However, use by minors, driving under the influence, etc., are violations of law and they are enforced.

Wow. A comprehensive, straightforward, honest answer. Liberty, state’s rights, common sense, and no bullshit about waging the counterproductive and bank-breaking War on Drugs – or any other empty chest thumping slogans. Hmm.

Well, okay. It’s just talk. But I like what I’m hearing. I like it a lot.

August 4, 2009December 28, 2009Marijuana

No Stems or Seeds That You Don’t Need

by Mr. Peabody23 Comments

Recently Fullerton’s Redevelopment Director, Robert Zur Schmiede (who also serves on the planning commission for Laguna Beach) decided to channel his inner MD for an impromptu prescription to the Laguna Beach City Council to ban all medical marijuana dispensaries from the city. An OC Register article detailing the issue is available here, but here are a couple of noteworthy quotes:

“While acknowledging the needs of ill patients to access marijuana, I will not support — and will, in fact, vehemently oppose — the allowance of collectives in the city,” Commissioner Robert Zur Schmiede said.

“Why anyone with a grain of sense thinks this is something we should do is beyond me,” he added, to some murmurs in the audience.

Father Schmiede Knows Best — Father Zur Schmiede Knows Best

Let’s get this straight:

the majority of voters in California elected to legalize marijuana for medical use 13 years ago
Zur Schmiede is fully aware that there are ailing citizens who have a legitimate medical need for the drug
Zur Schmiede does not have a medical degree

Despite all that, he actively seeks to deny patients access to a drug that a licensed medical doctor has recommended for treatment.

Hmm... No medical marijuana for you! Trust me. I'm not a doctor.

Does Zur Schmiede really have the public interest in mind here? Can we expect this sort of reefer madness to echo in Fullerton? Or can we reasonably expect our city staff to uphold State law?

08/04/09 UPDATE BY THE FULLERTON HARPOON:

We have delved deep into our photo archives and have uncovered this image. And so continuing in the Robert Young leitmotif we share it with our Friends.

But I'm sick and need help! Nein! Ve vill never approve this pprescription! — But I'm sick and need help! Nein! Ve vill never approve zis prescription!

May 19, 2009May 20, 2009Big Brother

Judge Jim Gray on Marijuana

by admin9 Comments

Marijuana. Decriminalize, tax and regulate. Makes a lot more sense than ban, spray and incarcerate. Of course, it’s just the dark-skinned ones that we jail mostly. For middle class kids, it’s just “experimentation”!

That was the message of retired Judge Jim Gray at last night’s packed meeting of the Neighbors United for Fullerton at the main library. Gray told the supportive NUFFsters that imprisoning marijuana offenders costs California taxpayers $1 billion yearly and taxing it would add $4 billion to state coffers. That’s a net of $5 billion!

Who are the big winners in the drug war? Prison guards, prison builders, drug lords, dumb politicians and Big Pharma. (Tough to profit from a plant that grows in the wilds!)

Elected officials attending–and positively responding–were Supervisor Chris Norby and Anaheim UHSD Board Member Katherine Smith.

Gray talked about all the costs of the entire drug war, but concentrated on cannabis as the one most likely to see real reform. AB 390 by Assemblyman Tom Amiano (D-San Francisco) would legalize and tax marijuana in California, to take effect only after federal law was changed to respect state autonomy on the issue.

How ’bout it Barack? Would society really have been better off had you been jailed back during your experimental youth?

There are just enough pro-freedom Dems and Reps to form a coaltion. Reefer Madness might soon be replaced by Reefer sanity!

March 11, 2009May 10, 2009Big Brother

An Update: End Reefer Madness by Legalizing Pot

by admin15 Comments

Marijuana is not a dangerous drug [”Proposed pot law ignites debate,” Opinion, Feb. 23]. Alcohol causes thousands of deaths each year from overdose (alcohol poisoning), while no one in recorded history has ever died from marijuana overdose. It’s physically impossible to smoke or ingest enough marijuana to come anywhere close to a harmful overdose. We have our legal drugs backward. Numerous scientific studies in Canada and Europe have proven that pot is safer than most FDA-approved prescription drugs. Habitual pot smoking doesn’t even significantly increase the risk of cancer. The worst side effect from chronic pot use is chronic laziness. And the studies that claim pot is a “gateway drug” are inherently flawed because the omit alcohol, tobacco and prescription drug abuse.

The argument that legalization will lead to an increase in traffic accidents is also flawed. Of the millions of pot smokers who are currently breaking the law, studies and statistics show that only a small percentage are stupid enough to drive while stoned.

Those like myself who would be inclined to smoke pot once it’s legal, but who currently refrain, are already respectful of the law, and, therefore, would not be likely to drive stoned once it’s legal.

Marijuana was made illegal for two purely political reasons. The first was a back-door agreement that ended alcohol prohibition. The prohibitionists wanted something in return for alcohol’s return to the market; marijuana was the trade off. Second, William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper magnate, wanted to eliminate the hemp-based paper competition for his paper mills.

I hope all intelligent citizens in favor of freedom and fiscal common sense will contact their lawmakers in Sacramento and demand support for AB 390. It’s high time we stop the reefer madness.

David Santucci

OC Register, February 27, 2009