As most readers of the Auburn Journal know, the jury refused to convict Steve and Michele Kubby for growing marijuana. They did find Steve guilty of possession of two 10-year-old peyote buttons and half of a mushroom stem, which he used for research in writing his book, "The Politics of Consciousness." For that he gets to pay $4,500 in fines, be confined under house arrest for 120 days, wear an ankle bracelet ($30 a day), and expect to be searched any time, day or night, for three years. If Steve is stopped while buying his marijuana on the black market and gets thrown in jail, yes, he could die. He has adrenal cancer cells scattered throughout his body that, in the absence of marijuana, produce copious amounts of adrenaline, which soon raises his blood pressure to brain-popping levels. Is this justice? [continues 92 words]
Mr. Ryland's letter regarding substance abuse and Mr. Kubby's health (Journal letters, Jan. 7) shows a distinct lack of compassion and knowledge of the law. Over four years ago the voters in this state overwhelmingly approved the use of medical marijuana for relief of many ailments. The patients using medical marijuana for relief of various diseases, chronic pain and many other sicknesses, are not substance abusers and are not breaking the law. The authorities who are still arresting them and prosecuting them are now the ones breaking the law. [continues 153 words]
I am voting for Tom Campbell for U.S. Senate and asking him to please do all he can do to end the War on Drugs! I am sure he is a Libertarian, although he running as a Republican. He wants to end the war on drugs. We do not belong in Columbia! We do not need any more wars. We do not need any more dead sons! We do not need any more prisons built to house and train high-tech labor, using non-violent marijuana users, for the profit of some corporations. [continues 229 words]
When the police start coming into the schools brainwashing our children I believe our country is in trouble. This is a police state! The Red Chinese brainwashed their children against their parents and their parent's way of life. This again is a police state. I am sure that the Communist police, Communist State were very nice to the children. The children started turning their parents over to the police for every so-called wrong doing that did not fit into the Communist program. The parents were sent to indoctrination camps. The state took over the children. This is what is happening in this country today. [continues 86 words]
Editor -- Citizens of California, please oppose AB 2295, the ``Smoke- a-Joint, Lose-Your-License'' bill recently passed by the Assembly Public Safety Committee to mandate a six-month driver's license suspension upon conviction of any drug offense. Instead support legislation to officially ``opt-out'' of this provision. AB 2295 is an irrational extra punishment imposed upon people who have already suffered whatever penalty a judge saw fit to impose on them. This law would clog California's courts by causing huge numbers of very low-level drug offenders to take their cases to full trial. Write to Sen. Tim Leslie or Assemblyman Rico Oilier and Gov. Davis, all at State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814-4905. Carol Colburn, Meadow Vista [end]
I hope the citizens of California will oppose Assembly Bill 2295, the "Smoke a Joint, Lose Your License" bill recently passed by the Assembly Public Safety Committee to mandate a six-month driver's license suspension upon conviction of any drug offense. Please instead support legislation to officially opt out of this provision. "Smoke a Joint, Lose Your license" is an irrational extra punishment imposed upon people who have already suffered whatever penalty a judge saw fit to impose on them. This law would clog California's courts by causing huge numbers of very low-level drug offenders, many of whom might otherwise be willing to plead guilty and accept some minor penalty, to take their cases to a full trial instead. [continues 126 words]
What is the Auburn Journal afraid of?. You only have to count the number of cigarette paper packages sold to know the number of people who smoke pot. Why do you not come forward with the truth? Why is the government trying to control the will of the people and thwarting Proposition 215? Even Ann Landers said drugs should be legal, and between a doctor and his patient. What is this drug war all about? Corruption and confiscation of property? Is our Clinton administration making money on the drug war? [continues 148 words]
Thanks to former police chief Joseph McNamara for explaining in an essay how the drug war causes police corruption. However, I am 65 years old and have seen police corruption in the '50s when I was a child in Butte, Mont. They would jail and take the paychecks of working men on payday for being drunk. I witnessed police corruption in New York City when I was a young woman of age 21. When I went to the police precincts to complain and sign papers against the offenses, I was laughed at and told to go back to Montana before they jailed me. [continues 222 words]
Forget Bill of Rights. Regarding Cmdr. Dennis Freelove's response (Journal letters, Nov. 24) to my letter about shocking police corruption arising from the war on drugs, I can only say his Clintonesque response of changing the subject and attacking the messenger avoids a solution. Yes, I did observe drug-running and crooked cops firsthand when I was married to the father of my children, a stage and film director and producer in Las Vegas. We viewed the parade from a front row seat. Remember that this was in the '50s when the mob ruled, and yes they maintained an iron-handed order. [continues 245 words]
Regarding Commander Freelove's response to my letter of November 22, about shocking police corruption arising from the war on drugs, I can only say his Clintonesque response of changing the subject and attacking the messenger avoids a solution. Yes I did observe drug running and crooked cops first hand when I was married to the father of my children, a stage and film director and producer in Las Vegas. We viewed the parade from a front row seat. Remember that this was in the 50's when the mob ruled, and yes they maintained an iron handed order. It was woe to the petty thief or mugger that might discourage the public from bringing their money to tinsel town. [continues 242 words]
Yes, I did observe drug-running and crooked cops firsthand when I was married to the father of my children, a stage and film director and producer in Las Vegas. We viewed the parade from a front row seat. Remember that this was in the '50s when the mob ruled, and yes they maintained an iron-handed order. It was woe to the petty thief or mugger that might discourage the public from bringing their money to tinsel town. The topic I addressed was retired police Chief Joseph McNamara's forthcoming book, "Gangster Cops: The Hidden Cost of America's War on Drugs." A Research Fellow at Stanford, his expose details decay that can only be described as cancerous, fed first by the obscene profits made possible by drug prohibition and second by the police "code of silence" that keeps the rot under wraps. [continues 154 words]
However, I am 65 years old and have seen police corruption in the '50s when I was a child in Butte, Mont. They would jail and take the paychecks of working men on payday for being drunk. I witnessed police corruption in New York City when I was a young woman of age 21. When I went to the police precincts to complain and sign papers against the offenses, I was laughed at and told to go back to Montana before they jailed me. [continues 217 words]
Dear Editor: Its time to put to rest the myth that marijuana smoking is a fringe or deviant activity engaged in by those on the margins of society. In reality, marijuana smoking is extremely common, and marijuana is the recreational drug of choice for millions of hard working and middle-class Americans. Marijuana smokers in this country are no different from their non-using peers, except for their use of marijuana. Like most Americans, they are responsible citizens who work hard, raise families, contribute to their communities and want a safe, crime-free neighborhood in which to live. [continues 125 words]
