XPost: alt.drugs.pot, rec.drugs.cannabis, rec.drugs.psychedelic   
   From: Beach121@NOSPAMcyber-rights.net   
      
   "Truthteller"  wrote in message   
   news:k8e3em$ct7$1@dont-email.me...   
   > 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.   
   >   
   >    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.   
   >   
   >    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.   
   >   
   >    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."   
   >   
   >    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."   
      
      
   "Follow the money..."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)