End Federal Prohibition of Marijuana   
        Pass the Barney Frank/Ron Paul bill for freedom  
      by James Wilson 
       
      
    
      D o w n s i  z e r - D i s p a t c h
       
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         Quote of  the Day:  
        “What I'm not going to be doing is using Justice Department resources  to try to circumvent state  laws.”  
        — Barack Obama, Oregon  Mail Tribune, March 22, 2008
       
        On June 23,  Barney Frank and Ron Paul introduced a bill that would end federal  prohibition of marijuana and would let the states decide for themselves  whether it should be legal.
       
        Six days  later, the Obama Administration broke an earlier promise and declared war on  medical marijuana patients — even in states where medical marijuana is  legal.  
       
        Although  the Administration claims it wants federal laws enforced in all states, the  problem is that federal marijuana prohibition is unconstitutional, immoral, and  counterproductive.
       
        That's why  I sent a letter to Congress asking them to pass the Frank-Paul bill using our End the Mexican  Civil War campaign.  
        The  hard-wired message says, "Please bring peace to both Mexico and the United States by ending the War on  Drugs." 
        To this I  added the following personal comments, which you may borrow from or copy...  
        START  LETTER
         
        An  excellent first step in ending Drug Prohibition is Barney Frank's and Ron  Paul's H.R. 2306, which would end federal prohibition of marijuana, so that the  various states would decide, for themselves, whether it should be legal. A  laboratory of 50 state policies can teach us a great deal. 
        Is  supporting this kind of bill politically dangerous, like it used to be? More  and more Americans are seeing that the War on Drugs is a failure, and support  for marijuana legalization is expanding.  
      Supporting  Frank-Paul will promote justice... 
      
        - The President has broken a       promise and is INCREASING raids on medical marijuana patients and their       providers; Frank-Paul would end this
  
        - Frank-Paul will substantially       decrease gross violations of our civil liberties, such as civil asset       forfeiture 
  
        - Frank-Paul will also reduce       racial disparities in the criminal justice system 
  
        - And will reduce the number of       broken homes and lost futures due to drug convictions
  
        - Moreover, everyone knows that       Prohibition hasn't worked. It has...
  
        - NOT had any noticeable effect       on usage
  
        - led to violence on our streets       and bloody civil wars elsewhere; Mexico's drug war has cost       30,000 lives in just 5 years
  
        - has squandered tens of billions       of dollars to prosecute non-violent drug "offenders"
  
        - led to overcrowded prisons, and       an overloaded justice system
  
        - Supporting Frank-Paul will mean       you are abiding by your oath of office... 
  
        - Prohibition violates the Tenth       Amendment; early in the last century, everyone agreed that Prohibition       required a constitutional amendment
  
        - Frank-Paul conforms to the       standards and intent of the Commerce Clause 
  
        - Studies have demonstrated that       marijuana is far less dangerous than the federal government insists, and       that it can have medical and psychological benefits. 
  
        EVEN IF YOU DISAGREE,       don't individuals have a Ninth Amendment right to decide for themselves?
       END LETTER
       
        You can  send your letter using DownsizeDC.org's  Educate the Powerful System.  
        Does State prohibition really make "society"  healthier? Learn the interesting historical answer in this brand new and  highly-relevant article  at the Downsize DC Foundation website.  
        In  preparing this Dispatch, I was struck by how many promises Barack Obama has  broken -- how many groups he filled with "hope" during campaign  season, only to "change" his word when the moment of truth came  during his presidency. This Dispatch provides another unfortunate example.  Maybe you know people who care deeply about the issue of marijuana prohibition  who believed that, at least on this issue, policy would improve.  
        Would you  be doing those persons a favor if you shared this message with them? Might they  join you in taking action using DownsizeDC.org's Educate the  Powerful System?  
        Thanks for  taking action and spreading the word, 
         
        James  Wilson Policy  Research Director DownsizeDC.org,  Inc.
         D o w n s i  z e r - D i s p a t c h  
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        2011 July 11  
            Posted by The Coffee Coaster™ copyright Downsize DC  
Paul-Frank Bill | Marijuana Legalization | Downsize DC | Medical Marijuana    
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