XPost: alt.drugs.pot, rec.drugs.cannabis, rec.drugs.psychedelic   
   From: bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com   
      
   On 11/19/2012 12:05 PM, Truthteller wrote:   
   > Last year, over 850,000 people in America were arrested for   
   > marijuana-related crimes. Despite public opinion, the medical community, and   
   > human rights experts all moving in favor of relaxing marijuana prohibition   
   > laws, little has changed in terms of policy.   
   >   
   > There have been many great books and articles detailing the history of the   
   > drug war. Part of America's fixation with keeping the leafy green plant   
   > illegal is rooted in cultural and political clashes from the past.   
   >   
   > However, we at Republic Report think it's worth showing that there are   
   > entrenched interest groups that are spending large sums of money to keep our   
   > broken drug laws on the books:   
   >   
   >      1.) Police Unions: Police departments across the country have become   
   > dependent on federal drug war grants to finance their budget. In March, we   
   > published a story revealing that a police union lobbyist in California   
   > coordinated the effort to defeat Prop 19, a ballot measure in 2010 to   
   > legalize marijuana, while helping his police department clients collect tens   
   > of millions in federal marijuana-eradication grants. And it's not just in   
   > California. Federal lobbying disclosures show that other police union   
   > lobbyists have pushed for stiffer penalties for marijuana-related crimes   
   > nationwide.   
      
   	These police are like bankers who don't care who is hurt by   
   their profits.   
      
   >   
   >      2.) Private Prisons Corporations: Private prison corporations make   
   > millions by incarcerating people who have been imprisoned for drug crimes,   
   > including marijuana. As Republic Report's Matt Stoller noted last year,   
   > Corrections Corporation of America, one of the largest for-profit prison   
   > companies, revealed in a regulatory filing that continuing the drug war is   
   > part in parcel to their business strategy. Prison companies have spent   
   > millions bankrolling pro-drug war politicians and have used secretive front   
   > groups, like the American Legislative Exchange Council, to pass harsh   
   > sentencing requirements for drug crimes.   
      
   	No saving these imbeciles as Corporate types lack spirit or souls   
   having signed them over to the legal fiction in exchange for   
   highest possible profits.   
      
   >   
   >      3.) Alcohol and Beer Companies: Fearing competition for the dollars   
   > Americans spend on leisure, alcohol and tobacco interests have lobbied to   
   > keep marijuana out of reach. For instance, the California Beer&  Beverage   
   > Distributors contributed campaign contributions to a committee set up to   
   > prevent marijuana from being legalized and taxed.   
      
   	Well I gave up on those alcohol based beverages many years ago.   
   	If I have a wild News Years eve I might put a quarter ounce of   
   rum or brandy in my egg nog.   
      
   >   
   >      4.) Pharmaceutical Corporations: Like the sin industries listed above,   
   > pharmaceutical interests would like to keep marijuana illegal so American   
   > don't have the option of cheap medical alternatives to their products.   
   > Howard Wooldridge, a retired police officer who now lobbies the government   
   > to relax marijuana prohibition laws, told Republic Report that next to   
   > police unions, the "second biggest opponent on Capitol Hill is big PhRMA"   
   > because marijuana can replace "everything from Advil to Vicodin and other   
   > expensive pills."   
      
   	You are wrong if you believe Medical Cannabis to be inexpensive.   
   	Of course the prices might drop if we get recreational cannabis   
   legal.   
      
   >   
   >      5.) Prison Guard Unions: Prison guard unions have a vested interest in   
   > keeping people behind bars just like for-profit prison companies. In 2008,   
   > the California Correctional Peace Officers Association spent a whopping $1   
   > million to defeat a measure that would have "reduced sentences and parole   
   > times for nonviolent drug offenders while emphasizing drug treatment over   
   > prison."   
      
   	They are such numskulls as the prisons are unsafely over-crowded   
   with non-violent drug offenders dumped in with the violent and more   
   skilled criminals.   
      
      
   	You guys don't mention the DEA which is powerfully influential with the   
   elected officials.   They propagandise the Executive and Legislative   
   branches at least in order to keep the money coming in to   
   attempt suppression of drug trafficking.   They have direct access   
   to the elected officials in a way that is impossible for most of the   
   other groups.  Funding to keep the bad and unenforceable laws as   
   they are should be investigated as I am sure it will lead back to   
   the Drug Lords, foreign and domestic.   
      
   	bliss   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)