Giving America an enema

Gun Control part deux

From Ron Paul at Campaign For Liberty:

Make no mistake -- they’re coming for your guns.

When Nancy Pelosi reclaims the Speaker’s gavel, the U.S. House is going to pull out all the stops to ram through the Gun Control Lobby’s radical anti-gun agenda.

And they just might succeed if you and I aren’t prepared to stop them!

That’s why I’m counting on you to renew for 2019 right away.

As I previously mentioned, I budgeted $78,413.89 to ensure Campaign for Liberty could hit the ground running in 2019.

With everything that’s at stake, I hope you realize just how vital it is for Campaign for Liberty to raise every penny of that -- and more, if possible!

While we know the gun-grabbers are preparing to ram through so-called “Universal Background Checks,” that’s really just a code word for NATIONWIDE GUN REGISTRATION.

And I fear that’s just the beginning. Believing they have the momentum, they could soon move on their entire agenda, including:

*** Feinstein’s so-called “Assault Weapons” Ban, which would outlaw specific rifles, shotguns, and handguns -- including ones popular with hunters and sportsmen -- based arbitrarily on nothing more than certain “scary” cosmetic features;

*** Emergency “Red Flag” gun seizures, allowing friends or family members to have your guns taken away based on mere accusations without due process or trial;

*** Raising the minimum age to buy or possess a rifle, denying young adults their Second Amendment rights at home while the government continues to hand them more powerful weapons and ship them off overseas on America’s grand military adventures;

So won’t you please renew for 2019 right away with your most generous contribution of $35, $50, $100, $250 or $500 today?

Your generous support will enable Campaign for Liberty to hold the line against the gun-grabbers and beat back their attempts to gut the Second Amendment.

We must make it clear to your elected representatives there is no room for negotiation when it comes to our Second Amendment rights.

The words of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution are so easy to grasp:

". . . the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

There were no asterisks and no footnotes. There are no sentences that follow which start with the words "unless" or "however." The right to defend your life and property shall not be infringed by the government.

Period.

Unfortunately, politicians are taking a lot of flak from the anti-gun media and the re-organized and deep-pocketed Gun Control Lobby.

While we may not have the backing of BILLIONAIRES like Michael Bloomberg and George Soros, the Liberty Movement’s passion and dedication to the fight is second to none.

Because every dollar raised from each and every supporter is so critical, I’ve decided to do something this year that I’ve never done before when asking Campaign for Liberty supporters to renew.

If you can renew for 2019 with a contribution of $35 or more, I’ll send you a copy of my “Farewell to Congress” speech booklet.

And if you can agree to $100 or more, I’ll be sure to sign it for you before my staff pops it in the mail!

I realize that’s a lot to ask for. But there’s so much at stake in 2019. We have to fight like never before.

With the end of the year rapidly approaching, and so many critical battles in store for us in 2019, I hope you’ll act right away!

The Dems now control the House just as the GOP controls the Senate. With Democratic leadership the House is going to go a different direction than the GOP House did. The majority of the Dems favor marijuana legalization. Unfortunately they also favor feminism,homosexism,affirmative action and gun control. It is the last one that we are tackling today. Mexico has some of the very harshest gun control laws on the books. How has that worked to the advantage of the average Mexican citizen ? It hasn't. There are only two armed factions in Mexico. The federales and local law enforcement along with other government agents on one side (all corrupt)and the armed drug cartels and other criminal organizations on the other. The people are defenseless and at the mercy of a corrupt government and/or the criminal gangs. Is that what you want for America ? If so you are alone. On the other hand if you value America then stand up to the liberal gun control goons and stand with Ron Paul and Campaign For Liberty in defeating them.

Mrs. Ocasio-Cortez goes to Washington

In January a new congress will be sworn in. Among those new House members will be Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-14th New York Congressional District). She has no prior voting record to judge but she has stated her views. She appeals to a lot of the left wing demographics: minority groups,feminists,socialized medicine groups and those that want free stuff. She has other things going for her too. Perhaps the most important. Perhaps that which got her elected. She is one of the people. She made their drinks for them. Engaged in conversation with them. They relate to her. Another thing the Founding Fathers had someone similar to Cortez in mind when they wrote the Constitution. One of the people would serve in Congress as representatives. The United States Constitution was written during a time when a lot of Monarchs and other despots in European countries claimed right to be the rulers through "divine right" or that God chose them to lead. The concept of the people choosing their own representatives was so radical at the time that it wasn't taken seriously. However when the United States won the American Revolutionary War that very Constitution was put in effect and that effect has resonated around the world. She has drive and sincerity. She does give the impression she cares about her constituents. Another thing is she is not one of them. She is not part of the establishment. She is not a member of the elite.


Now let's just add this up: no prior experience in serving in the government. Appeals to a large number of people. Talks to their constituents. Is constantly dogged by the media. Whom does that remind you of?

Smoke the vote

Who's on board with marijuana legalization and who is not? Want to vote for the pro-legalization candidate but don't know who they are? NORML solves that problem with Smoke The Vote. May it be your guide.

In marijuana news

There are a couple of things marijuana related that I want to bring up and since I do not feel like creating two posts I just combine the two on this one post. Here they are:

It’s incredible to see the progress we have made in recent years. Marijuana has been legalized for adults in nine states and Washington, D.C., and polls show two out of three Americans want to end the failed policy of prohibition.

But our opponents think they can stop our momentum — and they’re spending a lot of money to defeat Prop 1 in Michigan.

A win in Michigan would demonstrate the strength of our movement. But imagine the headlines if Prop 1 fails. Project SAM and their prohibitionist allies will claim that the tide is turning. Politicians in Congress would take note, and if they think voters are changing their mind, our reform efforts at the federal level could be jeopardized.

We have to prove the anti-legalization voices wrong. Make a donation to the YES on 1 campaign to help them fight back against their opposition’s fear tactics.

The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol produced a series of powerful ads. These TV and digital ads tell the truth about legalization, and they are the perfect antidote to the opposition’s demonstrably false attack ads. Your contribution will go directly towards helping the campaign share these messages with more Michigan voters.

There’s not much time left. Election Day is just a few days away. I can’t emphasize enough how important Prop 1 is for the future of our legalization movement. Please, get in the fight and support the campaign today.

and this:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions may be waging a very public war against marijuana, but we have another Sessions to contend with, a much quieter one with an insidious agenda to ramp up the decades-old drug war, long ago proven to be wasteful and ineffective.

U.S. Representative Pete Sessions has been using his chairmanship of the Rules Committee to stifle popular amendments that would protect legal marijuana, refusing to bring them to the floor. This, despite a record 66% of adults in the U.S. being in favor of legalized marijuana, according to a recent Gallup poll.

This has to stop – and you can make it stop. Stand with the Drug Policy Alliance and tell Rep. Pete Sessions you won't stand for his harmful agenda to stifle drug policy reform. Sign our petition today.

Because of Rep. Sessions' actions, DPA hasn't even been able to produce our annual legislative report card to inform voters like you about elected officials' stances on marijuana reform, a resource we typically provide ahead of every election season.

Through his willful obstruction, Rep. Pete Sessions has halted reform that would help people across the board, including allowing veterans access to medical marijuana, protecting states from federal interference and expanding research into marijuana health benefits. Sign our petition now. Tell Rep. Pete Sessions his outdated, destructive drug war must end.

The election is on Tuesday. See you at the polls.

Red or blue makes little difference when it comes to the question of legalizing marijuana

The adult use of marijuana is now legal in nine states — Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington — as well as the District of Columbia. Come November, additional states may be joining them.

Voters in North Dakota and Michigan will be deciding on marijuana legalization initiatives on Election Day. If past is precedent, these measures likely will emerge victorious at the polls in at least one, if not both, states.

But the fact remains that majority support for ending cannabis criminalization extends far beyond the boundaries of those individual states that have voted for it. In fact, according to statewide polling data compiled from throughout the year, if direct votes on the issue were held today, a majority of the country would be legal.

Specifically:

1. Sixty-two percent of Maryland adults support “making marijuana legal for recreational use,” according to the results of a September 2018 Goucher College poll.

2. Fifty-six percent of likely voters in Minnesota believe that the adult use of marijuana ought to be legal, according to the findings of September 2018 Survey USA poll.

3. Sixty-one percent of Wisconsin voters say, “Marijuana should be fully legalized and regulated like alcohol,” concludes an August 2018 Marquette University survey.

4. Fifty-nine percent of voters in Connecticut support “allowing adults to legally possess small amounts of marijuana for personal use,” according to survey data released in August 2018 by Quinnipiac University.

5. Fifty-three percent of Arizona voters “support legalizing marijuana for adults 21 and over,” according to the results of a June 2018 Emerson College poll.

6. Fifty-three percent of registered voters in Texas approve legalizing either small amounts of marijuana (30 percent) or any amount (23 percent), concludes a June 2018 University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll.

7. Sixty-three percent of New Mexicans support regulating and taxing adult use marijuana sales, according to the results of a May 2018 poll conducted by the firm Research & Polling Incorporated.

8. Fifty-five percent of Georgia voters endorse legalizing the use of marijuana by adults, according to a May 2018 Survey USA poll.

9. Sixty-three percent of New York voters support "allowing adults to legally possess small amounts of marijuana for personal use,” according to the findings of a May 2018 Quinnipiac University poll.

10. Fifty-nine percent of New Jersey residents support "legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use" and 60 percent believe that "legalizing marijuana in New Jersey would help the state's economy,” according to the results of an April 2018 Monmouth University survey.

11. Sixty-six percent of Illinois voters support "the legalization of recreational marijuana if it is taxed and regulated like alcohol,” according to survey data compiled in March 2018 by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute.

12. Fifty-six percent of New Hampshire residents support the passage of legislation to eliminate criminal and civil penalties for the possession and cultivation of marijuana for personal use, according to a February 2018 UNH Granite State poll.

13. Sixty-two percent of registered voters in Florida support "legalizing and regulating marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol,” according to the results of a February 2018 poll conducted by the University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Laboratory.

Evident from this state-specific data is the reality that Americans’ desire for cannabis legalization is bipartisan — with voters in blue and red states alike expressing majority support. Voters support for legalizing marijuana for medical purposes is even more strongly bipartisan, with super-majorities of self-identified Democrats, Republicans, and Independents endorsing reform.

As many federal politicians approach the upcoming midterm elections, and as state lawmakers look ahead to their 2019 legislative sessions, they ought to keep in mind the simple fact that marijuana legalization likely remains far more popular with their constituents than they are — and they ought to legislate accordingly.

Paul Armentano is the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. He is the co-author of the book, Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? and the author of the book, The Citizen’s Guide to State-By-State Marijuana Laws.

Source

Koch Brothers Encourage Republicans To Support Federal Legalization of Marijuana

Since the Koch brothers’ call for a repeal of federal marijuana prohibition, more Republicans have felt emboldened to stand up to the current administration.

The Koch brothers are one of the Republican party’s biggest donors. In fact, they have pledged to donate up to $400 million to Republicans running for office in the 2018 midterm elections. That kind of money carries a lot of weight with the party.

In January, the brothers began throwing that weight around in favor of states’ rights, the legalization of cannabis, and the end of the War on Drugs.

Sent in response to the Attorney General’s ditching of the Cole memo, the statement had some harsh words for Sessions.

“That Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a Republican appointee in a Republican administration, is undoing a Democratic appointee’s work from a Democratic administration is irrelevant,” the letter stated, adding, “Republicans and Democrats alike have criticized the decision, and for good reason: It does little to improve the lives of people in our communities.”

Going beyond just defending states’ rights, the statement also labels the war on drugs “misguided” and calls for a “new, smarter approach to drug policy.”

“The administration would be better suited working with members of Congress to reform outdated sentencing laws,” the statement reads. “However well-intentioned these laws were upon implementation, they have ruined lives, torn apart families and communities, and have burdened taxpayers, doing little to keep people safe.”

Republican support is growing

Since the Koch brothers’ statement, more and more Republicans have felt emboldened to stand up to the administration in this matter without fear of losing the support of GOP donors such as the Koch brothers.

Just last week, a bipartisan bill meant to replace the protections provided by the now-defunct “Cole memo” was introduced jointly by Representatives Lou Correa (D-CA) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL). The bill is entitled the “Sensible Enforcement Of Cannabis Act.”

Earlier this month, Senator Thom Tillis, another powerful Republican from North Carolina, in a letter addressed to an advocate for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) wrote, “Proposals to legalize marijuana should not be taken lightly. As you may know, I am a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and this issue will likely be discussed this Congress. If this issue comes before the Judiciary Committee or the full Senate, I will carefully consider everything you have said in making a decision on what is best for North Carolina and the country.”

And in late January, a bipartisan group of 54 lawmakers sent a letter to President Trump urging him to call off Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who seems intent on harassing states which have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational purposes.

That letter was not the first action taken by joint members of Congress in reaction to Sessions’ threats. Just days after Sessions announced the death of the Cole Memo in early January, 69 members of Congress signed onto a letter proposing an amendment to the current spending bill that would include recreational marijuana protections.

Top Republicans support ending federal prohibition

In a recent article on Civilized entitled “8 Republicans Who Broke from the Party on Marijuana Legislation,” cannabiz journalist Joseph Misulonas wrote, “The Republican Party tends to adopt the old-school philosophy that marijuana is evil and legalization will be the downfall of society. But there are a few members of the GOP who are willing to speak out and break with the party on the issue.”

In the story, Misuloans discusses the stances of several Republicans, including Senator Bill Cassidy (Louisiana), a former doctor who supports legalizing medical marijuana, Senator Steve Daines (Montana), who once prominently supported a bill that would prevent the DEA from interfering with states with medical marijuana laws, and Senator Orrin Hatch (Utah), one of the oldest members of Congress, who recently came out as a pro-cannabis politician.

Also mentioned in Misuloans’ piece are Senator Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), one of the first people to denounce Sessions’ trashing of the Cole Memo, and Senator Cory Gardner (Colorado), who has been blocking the Department of Justice from receiving any new nominees until Sessions’ reverses his marijuana policies.

In at number one and two on the list are Senator Rand Paul (Kentucky) and Dana Rohrabacher (California). Paul supported legalizing medical marijuana nationally while denouncing the War on Drugs. Rohrabacher was a co-author of one of the most important pieces of cannabis legislation currently in play, the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment, which prevents the federal government from interfering with states that legalize medical marijuana.

While Republicans seem to be warming up to the idea of ending federal prohibition and the War on Drugs, according to a report in Forbes, marijuana legalization “is quickly becoming a mainstream consensus position in the Democratic Party.”

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), who introduced the Marijuana Justice Act last August, says that “Legalizing marijuana isn’t a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”

Source

Now you are going to see some major changes. For those of you who remember the '80's drug war. You know it was no fun and we also knew that the tide went the other way in favor of prohibition. People losing their homes and families over marijuana,a plant that is lot safer than alcohol and anything the pharmaceutical companies put out.

There is going to be a lot of flip flopping. GOP prohibitionists are going to be scared shitless. They will see that times have changed and that they must make a choice. Side with the Koch brothers and abandon Jeff and Pete Sessions or side with Jeff and Pete Sessions and say goodbye to that Koch brother money. GOP candidates who do not receive Koch brother money don't do so well on election day and it's a little hard to run a campaign when you're broke. Times have changed and they've changed for the better when it comes to marijuana reform.

62 Percent Of Americans Oppose Jeff Sessions’ War On Weed

The current U.S. administration’s stance on marijuana makes us feel like we’ve travelled back in time to the Nixon-era War on Drugs.

In fact, Donald Trump has expressed an interest in reviving the drug war, citing the Phillipines as an example of a place where strong penalties have worked to reduce the amount of drug-related crime (except it really hasn’t).

But almost two-thirds of Americans don’t agree with the position that the federal government has taken on marijuana enforcement federally.

According to the 2018 Civilized Cannabis Culture Poll, conducted with market research company PSB, 62 percent of Americans either oppose or strongly oppose Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ war on weed.

This is something that is evident when you look at the strides that individual states have made with regards to decriminalization and legalization, as the substance is still highly prosecutable under federal law.

Surprisingly, 27 per cent of cannabis users in the United States actually support the position that the federal government has taken with regards to marijuana, although it certainly seems like they’re shooting themselves in the foot there.

But it seems that Jeff Sessions doesn’t really need our permission: he’s still working at a total crackdown of marijuana usage and distribution, even though it’s not what most Americans want.

Source

I suggest sharing this with our elected officials in the House,Senate and even the Donald himself. Especially Trump because Trump has the power to snap Sessions back into line. The more of us they hear from the better so let's contact them right away.

There may be hope

Like I said there may be hope. Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX32),Chairman of the Congressional Rules Committee,has power but not absolute power. There is a way to defeat him. The following will explain it all:

The House may under certain rules remove the bill or measure from committee (known as "discharging the bill from committee") if the committee fails to report the measure to the House Rules Committee or to the full House and a negative report to the full House does not terminate the bill. The phrase that a "bill has been killed in committee" is not completely accurate as the full House always has options under the rules to remove the bill from Committee and to take action.

Source

Contact your Congressional Representative and tell them to take pro-legalization bills out of the hands of Pete Sessions. We've got to get serious about this. The more of us they hear from the better so contact them right away.

Kevin Sabet-Sharghi royally steps in it

Marijuana legalization is up for a vote in Illinois. Both sides are present in Illinois to lobby for or against marijuana legalization. Guess who else was out there? Our old friend Kevin Sabet-Sharghi. Leader of Smart Approaches to Marijuana aka SAM. Using the word "smart" to describe this group is like using the word "tiny" when discussing a large person. To prove it the Kev himself made the following statement:

“We think marijuana is taking cues from Big Tobacco,” Sabet said. “This is not about mom and pop stores growing weed, this is all about Wall Street and Silicon Valley, rich white guys who want to get richer off marijuana.”

“I hope we’ll have more balance in this debate, we talk about both revenue and cost, we do a comparison,” Sabet said. “We’re advocating to slow down legalization, smarter policies, more prevention, a holistic way to look at substance abuse.”

Source

2nd paragraph: IOW blah blah blah.

I don't usually take this route but it is difficult to take this guy seriously. Yes he made both a racist and sexist statement. Has anyone else brought this up? As of right now at posting time: no they haven't. I guess the anti-choice,anti-freedom types like the Kev and his cohorts have to rely on both racism and sexism to promote their cause. The more things change the more they stay the same.

Top Senate Democrat Pushes Bill To End Marijuana Prohibition

In one of the clearest signs yet that the politics of marijuana are rapidly shifting in favor of those who support legalization, one of Congress's most vocal longtime proponents of the war on drugs is filing legislation to end federal cannabis prohibition.

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York announced on Thursday that he will soon introduce a bill to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act altogether so that states can set their own policies.

"The legislation is long overdue," he said in an interview with VICE News. "I've seen too many people's lives ruined because they had small amounts of marijuana and served time in jail much too long."

The news comes on the same day that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) joined two other potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidates in sponsoring even more far-reaching marijuana legislation.

That bill, the Marijuana Justice Act, would not only exempt cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, but would also withhold funding from states that have racially disparate marijuana enforcement rates.

“With this announcement, Senator Schumer has effectively made it clear that a legislative priority for the Democratic Party is to end the federal prohibition of marijuana," Justin Strekal, political director of NORML, said. "As Democratic Leader, it is his role to ensure that the caucus as a whole falls in line with this public policy position -- a position that is held by more than 60 percent of Americans."

Schumer's bill would also "create some funding for minority and women-owned marijuana businesses, provide money for research into overall effects of marijuana and its specific effect on driving impairment," VICE News reported.

In 2004, Schumer was recognized by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America as a "Guardian of a Drug-Free America" for his work on drug enforcement legislation. In 2011 he sought to crack down on Bitcoin, seeing it as facilitating illegal drug transactions on the Internet.

Schumer first showed signs he was shifting away from his support for outright cannabis prohibition in 2014, when he said during an MSNBC interview that he supported letting states enact their own marijuana laws without federal interference.

Describing states as “laboratories,” he said, "I think having the states experiment is a good idea.”

The next year, in 2015, he started turning that talk into action by signing on as a cosponsor of legislation to allow states implement their own medical cannabis laws without federal interference.

Earlier this year, the Democratic Senate leader criticized the move by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to rescind Obama-era guidance that has generally allowed states to implement marijuana legalization policies.


Chuck Schumer
✔
@SenSchumer
6 Jan
The Attorney General’s decision to rescind the Cole memo was a very bad one & I oppose it.


Chuck Schumer
✔
@SenSchumer
I believe that the States should continue to be the labs of democracy when it comes to recreational & medical marijuana. Jeff, this is one place where states’ rights works. Let each state decide.

1:27 PM - Jan 6, 2018
1,959
723 people are talking about this

Now, Schumer is introducing a bill to end the federal war on marijuana altogether.

VICE News
✔
@vicenews
BREAKING: Senator Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) changes position and says he will submit a bill aimed at decriminalizing marijuana. See the exclusive interview on VICE News Tonight at 7:30PM on @HBO

1:17 PM - Apr 19, 2018
1,817
1,121 people are talking about this

By removing the drug from the Controlled Substances Act altogether, a process known as descheduling, states will be free to set whatever marijuana laws they want, and people following those laws will be protected from federal intervention as long as their cannabis activity doesn't cross state lines or violate local policies.

Schumer also told VICE News that he has no problem supporting legalizing marijuana on the state level in New York.

“My personal view is legalization is just fine,” he said. “The best thing to do is let each state decide on its own.”

But Strekal, of NORML, said that simply ending criminalization isn't enough, and that communities harmed by the drug war should be able to benefit from the newly legal economy.

“As states start dialing back their war on marijuana consumers, it is important that those who were impacted by this oppressive prohibition are able to see previous harms remedied, and be provided the opportunity to participate in the benefits that come along with legalization and regulation," he said.

Source

While I am not a fan of excluding white males this is a start and with Schumer leading the charge for the Democrats to legalize marijuana this is a tremendous boost. With Schumer backing this bill chances are it will get farther than it would otherwise. Schumer has done a good thing and for that we should thank him. Click here to contact Senator Chuck Schumer and thank him for backing this bill. The more of us he hears from the better so let's contact him right away.