Pubdate: Thu, 05 Nov 2015
Source: Trentonian, The (NJ)
Copyright: 2015 The Trentonian
Contact: http://www.trentonian.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1006
Author: Ed Forchion, NJWeedman.com For The Trentonian
John Peditto Tells ME It's Time for a Reefer Revolution
I'm feeling like Crispus Attucks, Nat Turner, and Malcolm X all
rolled up into one. Crispus Attucks is considered the first person to
be killed in the Revolutionary War; I don't want to be the first to
fall, but I too demand to be on the front lines. Nat Turner took it
upon himself to organize a slave revolt; I myself am now calling for
a Reefer Revolution. Malcolm X said "by any means necessary"; I think
it's necessary to use jury nullification as a means to end the
cannabis trials. I feel I'm at a crossroads in life, and all three of
these historical figures' ideas are in my THC-enhanced mind.
As I pass this joint to you, the readers of The Trentonian, I must
tell you: The citizens of today have more to revolt about than the
colonists did in 1776. The rallying cry then was "no taxation without
representation"; now it's "taxation instead of incarceration." The
Cannabis-Consuming Community is the only segment of the population
that's begging to be taxed. We are the colonists of today, blazing a
path to personal liberty. But Reefer Revolutionaries have been with
us since the beginning of this nation. For instance, even our great
Thomas Jefferson risked his life to bring hemp seeds to the Colonies
for the good of the young nation. In fact, the colonists were ordered
to grow hemp (same cannabis family) to pay their taxes to the
British. What Jefferson did was smuggle hemp seeds outside of
official British channels, which were taxed. He was a tax-evading
cannabis smuggler, as well as an American patriot and Founding
Father. It would be safe to say he couldn't have imagined in his
widest dreams that the "American experiment" he so passionately
believed in and dedicated his life to would imprison people for this
plant that he also believed in.
Our current "reefer madness" inspired marijuana laws are more
ridiculous than the claims made at the Salem Witch Trials. At that
time (late 1600s), "witch madness" was all around; people were being
accused left and right of being witches in league with the devil and
using witchcraft to harm their neighbors with spells, potions and
herbs. They were legally persecuted, and some were even burned at the
stake. It took the wife of Massachusetts governor William Phips being
accused of being a witch for him to step up and stop the madness.
If only Mary Pat Christie were accused of being a cannabis consumer!
There is a Reefer Revolution going on, but after witnessing the
outcome of John Peditto's case last week (found guilty of maintaining
a grow facility [growing cannabis in the woods], the cowardly jurors
were even laughing after sending him to prison), I'm convinced we
have to step it up - I'm calling for a full-fledged revolt, as Nat
Turner did when he called for a slave revolt.
Lives are ruined every day by marijuana laws - not by marijuana. We
the people know this. Scientific evidence confirms the cannabis plant
has therapeutic and medicinal benefits - therefore it is not a
Schedule I drug, as our 2C:35 criminal statutes stipulate. Even
though six years ago the state of New Jersey contradicted this by
enacting CUMMA (Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act), which to
me, as I've stated in previous columns, should nullify the 2C:35 statutes.
In my last two columns, I tried to pass the Joint of Enlightenment on
the subject of jury nullification with regard to the highly public
Ocean County, trial of John Peditto, who championed himself as a
"Marijuana Gardner." (http://tinyurl.com/ Peditto-trial)
I'm both sad and angry that John was unfortunately convicted last
Thursday and now faces a 10- to 20-year imprisonment for growing 17
cannabis plants - which back in the days before the Revolutionary War
was a legal requirement ("hemp must-grow laws"). A farmer living in
Colonial America who didn't grow hemp could be jailed for not doing
his patriotic duty. Insanely, as I and millions of others, now
including John Peditto have found out firsthand, we imprison them.
Puff, puff, pass - it's time for the Reefer Revolution to get into
high gear. I'm calling for a mass education about jury nullification,
for the public to be "forewarned and forearmed." New Jersey
Constitution Art. 1, Par. 6: "In all prosecutions or indictments ...
the truth may be given in evidence to the jury ... and the jury shall
have the right to determine the law and the fact."
It's clear that the marijuana laws are wrong; jurors should judge the
marijuana laws the government is charging citizens with violating.
They're factually and scientifically wrong! As Johnnie Cochran said,
"If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." Marijuana doesn't fit the
description of a Schedule I drug. This is what jurors should always
be allowed to know.
I witnessed Judge Blaney and the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office
preventing John Peditto from presenting the truth to his jurors in
his defense, despite Art. 1, Par. 6. Sentencing has been set for
December 9; I'm calling for hundreds of citizens to descend upon the
Ocean County Courthouse on that day at 9 a.m. (http://tinyurl.com/
Peditto-sentencing)
This Is Necessary.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom