Asst. Georgia D.A. arrested for Pot

Assistant district attorney arrested on drug charges

Associated Press

GRANTVILLE, Ga. - An assistant district attorney from north Georgia and his wife face felony marijuana charges following their arrests in Coweta County two days before Christmas.

Robert D. Cullifer, 48, of Clayton said he resigned from his job effective Friday.

Cullifer and his wife, Carol Lucas Cullifer, 50, were charged with felony possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

Two Grantville police officers arrested the Cullifers Dec. 23 at a convenience store near Interstate 85, Chief Jerry Ramos said.

While Robert Cullifer was inside the store, the alarm on his 2000 Nissan Xterra went off and his wife couldn't stop it, Ramos said.

The officers reported that when they tried to help, they noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from the car.

Robert Cullifer produced a sandwich bag with 30 grams of material that tested positive for being marijuana.

Cullifer has prosecuted cases in the Mountain Judicial Circuit, which includes Habersham, Rabun and Stephens counties.

Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Mike Crawford said Cullifer had worked as a prosecutor almost two decades in the Mountain and Alapaha circuits.

You know...while I normally feel that no one should go to jail for pot I find it really hard to have ANY SYMPATHY for this guy. There's no telling how many people he has sent into HELL aka the US prison system for doing the very same thing that he is now in trouble for. Gotta kinda wonder if he will meet up with any of the people he helped to put behind bars when he gets there.......Of course he probably will never see the inside of a prison. Wonder if he will be forced to plea out like the majority of the rest of us are forced to do?

How to Shoot a Pig

The Government Method:
A 5-year $50,000 program to shoot three dozen hogs.

The Citizen Volunteer:
10 year old kills two wild boars with one bullet.

The Free Enterprise Approach:
This game preserve charges guests $475 for the chance to shoot a pig. Police are searching for someone who shot pigs without paying.

Email from a Cop

When I got up this morning this email was waiting for me.

Ms. Nall,

I was having trouble sleeping so I got up a few hours early made some coffee fired up my computer and found your arrest article on the web. I read all of it except for the transcript.

As a police officer for over twenty five years (five years in vice, intelligence and narcotics) You got my attention. I can honestly say that what happened to you would not of occurred in the central Florida county that I work in. Or should I rephrase that and say I haven't seen it that bad here. It doesn't take a supreme court justice to figure out that You All must have a very stupid prosecutor and a judge that would allow this sort of thing to happen, and allow themselves to become attached to such a violation.

It is unfortunate and I am sorry to say that there probably are many more stories like yours out there waiting to be told. It is my belief that incidents like these can be best dealt with in the manner that you are proceeding, courage, persistence, faith in god and justice. I can only say I am sorry to hear about your treatment and I am embarrassed as a professional LEO. Good Luck with your appeal...You will win in the long run.



I love emails like this one. They give me hope and reaffirm that the
work that we all do is paying off. Maybe not in a huge way that is
always obvious....but in ways like this....where a 25 year veteran of a
police force can look at my case and say "THAT'S WRONG"
I turned him on to LEAP and I hope that they hear from him soon.
Loretta

Recent Drug War Commentary

The Drug War Toll Mounts by Radley Balko

States Should End the Drug War by Sheldon Richman

Drug War Distractions by Gene Healy

The Longest-Running War by Doug Bandow

Proposal Would End Jail for Some Marijuana Possession Cases

A proposal introduced in the Texas Legislature would eliminate jail time for possession of small amounts of marijuana.
State Rep. Harold V. Dutton (D-Houston) told 1200 WOAI news Texas law currently calls for six months in jail for possession of less than two ounces of marijuana, a class B misdemeanor. Dutton's measure would maintain that designation for possession of between one and two ounces of pot, but would cut that to a class C misdemeanor, the equivalent of a traffic ticket, for possession of one ounce or less.

"We've been tough on crime for the last decade or so, and now it's time to be a little bit smart on crime," Dutton told 1200 WOAI news.

Cannabis disguised as Christmas tree

A CANNABIS grower got into the festive spirit by disguising one of his plants — as a Christmas tree.

But catering assistant Ben Ollis was feeling anything but cheery when he was hauled before Norwich magistrates yesterday.

Christmas in Space

Vital food reaches space station
An unmanned Russian spaceship carrying food has docked with the International Space Station, where supplies had been running dangerously low.

The Progress craft reached the ISS on Saturday at 2358 GMT, roughly half an hour later than predicted and more than a day after taking off from Kazakhstan.

It was carrying 2.5 tonnes of food, water, fuel and oxygen, and Christmas presents for the two crewmen.

Their mission would have been aborted had the supplies not reached them.

The Largely Defunct Bill of Rights

by Harry Browne
Unfortunately, the Bill of Rights is a dead letter in too many ways in America. It has now become possible for prosecutors to get a conviction in virtually every case where they choose to indict – whether or not the defendant is guilty.

Christmas Weed

Funny on the Onion.
Not funny in Tallahassee.

Portrait of an Alabama Drug Task Force

Who are they?
The Madison County Drug Task Force.
According to the Madison County District Attorney's Office
"They maintain an office of unknown address and work under disguise".

What do they do?
Abuse people. Steal $500,000 a year. Generally loot, pillage and terrorize the community. Destroy lives and families.
Secret police brutalizing citizens in their homes? Hitler and Stalin are probably high-fiving each other in Hell.

Marijuana.com is for sale starting at $1.5 Million Dollars

/24-7PressRelease.com/ - December 24, 2004. DotComFinders.com is brokering one of the most lucrative domain names in the world. The private bidder auction begins at 4:20pm eastern standard time on December 21, 2004 and ends on April 20, 2005 at 4:20pm eastern standard time and is listed on the dotcomfinders.com website. The name is for sale to the highest bidder.
Before even announcing the sale to the media the offers are rolling in and the interest it is generating has internet experts speculating it should sell for well over the world record $8 Million price garnered by the sale of the name banking.com several years ago.
www.globalsativa.com
www.marijuana.com
www.dotfinders.com

Thanks Drug Czar!!!

Survey: More teens passing up marijuana for Gasoline, Oxycontin

USA TODAY
December 22, 2004
WASHINGTON -- The use of marijuana and other illicit drugs declined slightly among teenagers in 2004, but dangerous inhalants and the highly addictive prescription painkiller Oxycontin are becoming more popular, a new national drug survey says.

The percentage of 12th-graders who reported using any illicit drug during the past year fell to 38.8 percent in 2004, compared with 39.3 percent the previous year, according to the study done by the University of Michigan for the National Institute on Drug Abuse. That continued a decline in teen drug use that began in the 1990s.

But the study also points out ominous trends in teens’ drug use. The use of inhalants such as paint thinner, glue and gasoline increased sharply among eighth-graders in 2003 and continued to rise this year, a sign that inhaling, or "huffing," is rebounding in popularity after many years of decline.

Oxycontin, which emerged in drug-abuse reports in 2001, is gaining ground among high school seniors, the report says.

See what prohibition brings us? See what student drug testing brings us? Now instead of ingesting a harmless herb to get high kids are huffing paint in order to get high, so they can still pass a piss test and stay in the band.

I say THAT'S ENOUGH!!!!
If you love your kids then you need to get involved in ending prohibition TODAY!!!

Martha Stewart Asks Public to Support Drug Policy Reform

Please visit Martha Talks and read Martha's message and visit
links there and feel free to add to the "Notes" portion, extending warm
greetings to Martha and her staff.


Dear Friends,

When one is incarcerated with 1,200 other inmates, it is hard to be selfish
at Christmas -- hard to think of Christmases past and Christmases future --
that I know will be as they always were for me -- beautiful! So many of the
women here in Alderson will never have the joy and wellbeing that you and I
experience. Many of them have been here for years -- devoid of care, devoid
of love, devoid of family.

I beseech you all to think about these women -- to encourage the American
people to ask for reforms, both in sentencing guidelines, in length of
incarceration for nonviolent first-time offenders, and for those involved in
drug-taking. They would be much better served in a true rehabilitation
center than in prison where there is no real help, no real programs to
rehabilitate, no programs to educate, no way to be prepared for life "out
there" where each person will ultimately find herself, many with no skills
and no preparation for living.

I am fine, really. I look forward to being home, to getting back to my
valuable work, to creating, cooking, and making television. I have had time
to think, time to write, time to exercise, time to not eat the bad food, and
time to walk and contemplate the future. I've had my work here too. Cleaning
has been my job ­ washing, scrubbing, sweeping, vacuuming, raking leaves,
and much more. But like everyone else here, I would rather be doing all of
this in my own home, and not here -- away from family and friends.

I want to thank you again, and again, for your support and encouragement.
You have been so terrific to me and to everyone who stood by me. I
appreciate everything you have done, your emails, your letters, and your
kind, kind words.
Happy holidays,

Martha Stewart

P.S. I thought you might be interested in the brief my lawyers filed with
the Court this afternoon.

Is This Illegal?

Satellite 

This National Guard Counterdrug Media Branch website has an "important notice" link in the left-hand column. Someone please interpret the meaning of this notice. Does this "important notice" say you have committed a crime by viewing the page? What's the sense in posting a freely available web page and then informing the viewer, after the fact, that viewing that page was a crime?

Another Friend Busted

The police in Kellyton ,Alabama are on a roll. First, they got my friend George Kelly, a few days later they arrested someone else I know and yesterday they took out Miranda. I have to wonder how much actual cocaine was in that 14.6 grams of crack she was suppossedly in possession of. I have only seen cocaine in Alabama a few times in my entire life and it was of extremely poor quality. I'd wager that there was less than $5 worth of cocaine all told in Miranda's possession.

Citizen tip leads to drug arrest

By Amy Bice

Another concerned citizen's tip has led to a drug arrest in Kellyton. Coosa County Investigator Chris Vinson said a search warrant was served at a home in Hillside Trailer Park that led to the arrest of Miranda Jane Hutchins Sunday night.

Hutchins, 30, is charged with possession of the controlled substance crack cocaine, possession of marijuana in the second degree and possession of drug paraphernalia.

"The search produced 14.6 grams of crack cocaine with a street value of $1,500, a small amount of marijuana valued at $20 and drug paraphernalia," Vinson said.

Coosa County law enforcement is pleased citizens are helping clean up the streets.

"Our citizens are our eyes and ears. We can't be everywhere all the time," said Coosa County Sheriff Ricky L. Owens. "But our citizens can monitor the activity in the communities where they live. When they see something out of the ordinary, we want to know," he said.

According to Vinson, Hutchins was transported to the county jail and placed under $75,000 bond.

Gonna be a long Christmas for Miranda. I'm covering you girl....HANG IN THERE!!!

Lookin' Out My Back Door

We have a large herd of deer that travel through the back yard on a regular basis. They are familiar with us and do not run away when we start snapping pictures of them. Thought I would share some pictures of "Alabama Rudolphs'" with you.

Happy Holidays Everyone!!


Rudolph1 

Rudolph3 

Jesse Jackson Jumps In

Jesse Jackson 

I have been following this story since it happened over a year ago. I hope that a boycott does happen, but it looks like Jesse needs to get his game together and alert the other folks he would like to see involved in the march and boycott....perhaps before they happen

ATLANTA - On Monday morning, the Rev. Jesse Jackson asked people across the country to pull their money out of financial institutions in Columbus until the man who shot Kenneth Walker is federally prosecuted and Georgia adopts anti-racial profiling legislation.

"We call for economic disinvestment from Columbus, Ga., until such time as that community is ready to stand for the end to racial violence and assure all citizens equal protection under the law," Jackson told about 50 people after the monthly breakfast meeting of the Concerned Black Clergy of Metro Atlanta. He also announced a march in Columbus on Jan. 15 to protest "the killing of Kenneth Walker without consequences."
Read More HERE...

Cannabis hopes bolster drugs firm

A prescription cannabis drug made by UK biotech firm GW Pharmaceuticals is set to be approved in Canada.
"We are delighted to receive this qualifying notice from Health Canada and look forward to receiving regulatory approval for Sativex in Canada in the early part of 2005," said GW Pharma executive chairman Dr Geoffrey Guy.

Pot TV News Dec. 20, 2004 w/Loretta Nall & Roberta Franklin

View Show Here

I am working on a Christmas/Year End Special and thought you all might like to see this while you are waiting for me to get finished.

In this show I am guest co-host on the Roberta Franklin Show. Roberta has been one of Alabama's top talk radio show hostesses for over 10 years. She is also founder and director of Family Members of Inmates and just like me she was arrested and jailed after starting her group and addressing failed policies here in Alabama. Roberta is also a comedian and for at least 30 minutes of this 37 minute show you will be doubled over in fits of laughter.

In this show Roberta and I discuss racism, local politics, corrupt cops, serial killers, sexual dysfunction , drug policy, parenting and a ton of other interesting and controversial topics. We also take live, un-screened calls from listeners.

Starting on Tuesday Dec. 21, 2004 I will be a regular weekly co-host on Roberta's show. We are working to get the internet streaming up and running so all of the Pot TV viewers and other drug policy reformers around the globe can tune in and participate.

Please overlook the occasional cigarette puff by me and my gum chewing. This is radio and Roberta is one of those rare people who still smokes in the workplace....so I joined her. Anyway I hope that you enjoy the show and you can expect a regular show filmed at the radio station on a weekly basis along with the Pot TV News in 2005.

Also, I have acquired a TOLL FREE number for Pot TV News viewers to call. If you would like to do a Christmas Shout Out on the next news then call 1-866-304-1196 and wish all the green folks around the globe a happy holiday season. Leave a message and we will play it on the news. Due to file size restrictions we ask that you please limit your Shout Out to 30 seconds or less. An example would be.."Hi, This is so and so from Wisconsin wishing you a happy holiday season."
Merry Christmas Y'all!!

Loretta Nall
US Marijuana Party
Pot TV News

US Marijuana Party sites HACKED

The US Marijuana Party site, as well as all state sites, has been hacked. The message on the pages says "This Site Has Been Defaced" NeverEverNoSanity webworm 10. ALMJP USMJP

Christmas for Children of Prisoners12/12/04 Montgomery, AL

(Pictures temporarily unavailable due to attack on server.)

1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

Scholastic Snitches

In Alabama we are paying our kids to rat each other out. I shudder to think at the number of highschool students destined for a jail cell like this one.

Birmingham Alabama - Kids talk in school. The problem in the past, though, was that they didn't do much talking to police.

Authorities hope a little cash, mixed with the success of the proven Crimestoppers program, will change that.

They call it Scholastic Crimestoppers, and they hope it will take a bite out of school crime.

"The children need a way, without fear of retaliation, to be able to turn a drug pusher in."

Nice how they come right out with the real purpose for this program.

Times Record News has a opinion on Alabama's Scholastic Snitching Program and they make some excellent points. I predict they will spend more time chasing teenage girls turned in by other teenage girls over a boy.
Don't we have better things to do y'all?

Special thanks to Grits for Breakfast for the heads-up on this story.

Comedy series 'Weeds' picked up by Showtime

Comedy series 'Weeds' picked up by Showtime
Big News Network.com Monday 20th December, 2004

Showtime Networks Inc., owner of several premium U.S. cable television networks, has picked up the comedy series Weeds.

Weeds, is about a single mother who makes ends meet by selling marijuana in a fictional town of Agrestic, Calif., near Los Angeles.

Produced by Lions Gate Television in association with Tilted Productions, Weeds has received a 10-episode commitment. The series -- starring Mary Louise Parker, Elizabeth Perkins and Kevin Nealon -- will be produced in Los Angeles and debut on cable's Showtime channels in mid-2005.

Parker stars as the suburban mom who resorts to selling marijuana to support her family after her husband unexpectedly dies. Perkins stars as the uptight head of the PTA, while Nealon plays a city councilman.

Who's Growing Pot?

A Cop
A Minister
A Dentist
A Professor

Poll: Majority of older Americans support medical marijuana

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly three-fourths of older Americans support legalizing marijuana for medical use, according to a poll done for the nation's largest advocacy group for seniors.
"The use of medical marijuana applies to many older Americans who may benefit from cannabis," said Ed Dwyer, an editor at AARP The Magazine, which will discuss medical marijuana in its March/April issue appearing in late January.
Generational lines also divided those who have smoked pot: Just 8% of those 70 and older admitted having lit up, compared with 58% of the 45-49 group, 37% of those between 50 and 59 and 15% of the 60-69 set.

Audio Excerpt from the Roberta Franklin Show

A few days ago I was guest co-host on the Roberta Franklin morning talk radio show. I have been co-host with Ms. Franklin on a number of occasions.

Here is an audio clip of me talking about what I would do if I found pot on my kids. I recorded most of the show on video tape and will have it on Pot TV ASAP. In the meantime listen to THIS

From the Holler to the Hood

Ran across this site earlier today and I was moved to tears. Incarcerated people are practically forgotten by everyone in society aside from those who love them. Contact is limited and very expensive for these families.

Remember, over 2 million people are in jails and prisons across the country, many of those for non-violent simple possession of marijuana. Please pass this site around and encourage stations to broadcast these Calls From Home

So...That's Why Santa is so Jolly

Everybody Must Get Stoned 

Man dressed as Santa at middle school cited for marijuana possession

December 16, 2004, 7:18 PM

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (AP) -- A man who visited a middle school dressed as Santa Claus on Thursday left with a citation for misdemeanor marijuana possession.

The 40-year-old Detroit man faces up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine after a small plastic bag of marijuana was found in the pocket of his street coat, which he left in a school restroom, Wayne County Sheriff's Department officials said.

A deputy who works at the school found the marijuana while searching the coat for identification after a teacher found it in the bathroom. The man dressed as Santa approached the deputy a short time later and identified the coat.

The man denied the pot was his. His wife, who was at the school to take pictures of Santa with the students, apparently did not know the marijuana was in her husband's coat, officials said.

"She was not happy," Lt. Paul Jones said. "It's going to be a long ride back to the North Pole."

Detroit Freepress

So I guess now we know why Santa is so jolly...Good ole' North Pole Green and he has a list of all the naughty girls' names and where they live. Merry Christmas everyone!

Wrong Approach to Fighting Drugs

The is an LTE I wrote in response to 27% of Baldwin County Students Use Drugs.
My LTE response was printed today in the Mobile Register.

The wrong approach to fighting drugs

This letter is in response to the article, "27 percent of Baldwin students used drugs" (Nov. 19).

This article is a classic example of how prohibition fails our children. For more than 30 years, our country has fought the "drug war" with no noticeable gains.

Millions of American citizens locked in prison, billions of dollars spent federalizing the local police, millions of lives destroyed -- what we have given up as far as the Bill of Rights and privacy is immeasurable. Today drugs are more widely available than ever before.

Yet almost daily, we see stories like this one. Despite that, most people will clamor loudly that we need more funding for police, more funding for school drug-testing, more funding for DARE and the loss of more of our rights.

I would like to remind people that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Let's face it. People have been fooled into paying for their worst nightmare. Perhaps they do not realize it. Maybe fear keeps them from thinking rationally.

Prohibition does not keep kids away from drugs. In fact, it does just the opposite. Because of prohibition criminals control the market.

But the most frightening aspect of the drug war as it relates to children is that if we allow prohibition to continue, then it is our children who will be the next generation of prison inmates. Are you willing to allow the government to sacrifice your kids in order to keep from admitting that it has been wrong all along? I'm not.

It is time to try a new approach to drugs altogether -- perhaps one that does not involve law enforcement or the criminal (in)justice system, as neither of those institutions is equipped to properly deal with a health and social issue.

LORETTA NALL

On the Radio

Roberta Franklin 

I'll be guest co-host on the Roberta Franklin Show today in Montgomery. Roberta is one of my all time favorite HEROINES. She is absolute DYNAMITE!! For the last three years she has fought the state of Alabama over the prison crisis. She is the voice of the 29,000 or so inmates in this state and she will be the one who brings this backwater to it's knees on this issue.
When Roberta first got started fighting for this cause she was arrested, charged with buying 90 Loratab's a day for 30 days from the same pharmacy.
The entire case was a farce and she won because a witness testified that Ms. Franklin drove a blue Cordova to the drug store every day to pick up her pills.

However...Roberta has never driven a day in her life.
It will be a good show today as it always is. The two of us together in the Capitol City usually make the ground quake!

Check out Roberta's site and check out the Radio Station
The link to listen over the internet usually doesn't work....but if you call the station manager and complain maybe he will fix it.

State Sanctioned Whiskey Maker Runs Afoul of the Law

Conecuh Ridge Whiskey 



EDITORIAL
Official state booze always a bad idea

The idea of Alabama designating an official state booze was ludicrous from the start. Now those legislators who pushed the designation through have even more reason to be ashamed.

The maker of Conecuh Ridge whiskey, named by the Legislature as the official state whiskey earlier this year, has been charged with selling liquor to a minor, possessing excess liquor in a dry county, and selling liquor without a license.

We hate to say we told you so, but at the time the Legislature was considering this bad legislation we warned the state may soon have a "hangover from the consequences of this unwise indulgence."

It was a bad idea to grant an official designation to any commercial product, but it was downright stupid to do it for an alcoholic beverage. While legal, booze is a major contributing factor to a lot of social ills. And this booze isn't even made in Alabama.

Gov. Bob Riley, to his credit, vetoed the resolution, but the House and Senate overrode the veto. Among those voting to override was Sen. Wendell Mitchell, D-Luverne, who represents the district where the company is located. We hope he and every other legislator who voted against the veto are suitably chastised. That is especially true of Rep. Alan Boothe, D-Troy, the sponsor of the resolution and a stockholder in the company (who should not have been involved for that reason alone.)

The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board has suspended the company's license to bring the state's official booze into Alabama. How ironic is that? The board plans to file administrative charges to block future sales in Alabama.

The ABC Board should follow through with tough action against the company, and we urge legislators to not make matters worse by trying to use political influence on behalf of politically connected company officials. And canceling the designation should be the first order of business for the Legislature in its February session.

Earlier this year we wondered what would follow "in the wake of this shortsighted action" naming an official state booze. One result should be a lot of deservedly red-faced legislators.


I remember when this was being hotly debated in the House and Senate in Montgomery. I actually agreed with Riley's veto of the proposal. 1,183 Alabama citizens are sent to prison every year for felony D.U.I. at a cost of over $10 million to Alabama taxpayers. I wondered at the time this passed if the people caught driving drunk would get time served because they were drinking Conecuh Ridge Whiskey...it is the Official whiskey of Alabama after all.

Kindergarten Student HANDCUFFED!!

Cuffed 

Kindergartner leaves school after being handcuffed

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS - A kindergartner who was handcuffed after a principal
wanted to curb his unruly behavior has left the school.

Aroni Rucker said her son had trouble adjusting to his first year
of school, but she said the 5-year-old hadn't done anything to warrant
handcuffing.
Now, she says the boy is afraid of what might happen at school.

"He doesn't want to go there. He's afraid he'll go to jail if he's
bad," she told The Associated Press.

Rucker said her son came home Nov. 30 complaining that his arms
were hurting. When she asked why, he said he had been "locked up."

Rucker believes her son was handcuffed twice.

Principal Sam Morgan of Thurgood Marshall Academy, a charter
school, acknowledged he had police officers handcuff the boy one time,
telling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "I'm trying to scare this kid straight.
I would not be doing my job if I were not trying to get him on the right
path."

St. Louis police spokesman Richard Wilkes said the department was
looking into the incident. "Handcuffing 5-year-olds is not a practice of the
department," he added.

Morgan said he asked police officers walking through the school to
help him with the boy on one occasion. They drove the boy around the block
in the back of a squad car, Morgan said.

Morgan said the boy has gotten into trouble almost every day since
school started, for disobeying his teacher and fighting with pupils.

Rucker said Morgan told her the police talked to her son, and she
was supportive of efforts to improve his behavior, but she never would have
supported the handcuffing.

Rucker and Morgan don't agree about whether the boy was asked to
leave the school or whether she withdrew him. He has not attended the school
since last week. Rucker has also removed another son, a second-grader.

The University of Missouri-St. Louis announced in August that it
would end its sponsorship of Thurgood Marshall Academy, meaning the school
must find a new sponsor by June or close. A university report noted that
fiscal mismanagement, board corruption and high turnover have hurt the
school.

Morgan, a longtime principal at East St. Louis High School in
Illinois who also worked for the Department of Corrections for eight years,
is in his second year at Thurgood Marshall Academy.

Morgan said he wanted to teach the boy a lesson and that he had
devoted more time to the pupil than to any others.

"I have this kid in my heart," he said, adding that he had walked
the halls with the boy and talked to him many times.

The children's godmother, Terreka Jones, who helps out with
dropping off and picking up the children, told the AP that school officials
hadn't said they regretted the decision. "That keeps me up at night," she
said

Court upholds suspension of beer drinker's license

By MARTHA RAFFAELE
The Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. - A judge ruled the state can suspend the driver's license of a man who told his doctor he drank a six-pack of beer a day, but also ruled he can obtain restricted driving privileges if he uses an ignition-interlock device in his car.

Keith Emerich 

Prohibition costs Bill Murray a Medical Carrer

Bill Murray 

Bill Murray claims being caught smuggling 9lbs of cannabis through customs cost him his chance of becoming a doctor.

The Hollywood actor was caught with the drug at Chicago's O'Hare Airport in 1970, and Bill says he had to quit Denver's Regis College because of his criminal record, stopping him from fulfilling his medical ambitions.

He told Webster Hall curator Baird Jones: "When I started out, originally I wanted to be a doctor. I was at Regis College in Denver and I was very seriously pre-med.

I wanted to be some kind of emergency surgeon who would be down in the Caribbean going from island to island in paradise where I would be the only doctor for a hundred miles, and everyone would really need me in these life-or-death situations.

But something happened, and I had to drop out, and so then I took up acting."

Well Bill, if it makes any difference I think you were suppossed to be a comedian. We can blame prohibition for stealing your chance at being a doctor.

The STATE DESTRUCTION of a Family

Motherhood 
GAFFNEY, S.C. - A 21-year-old Gaffney woman received a four-year prison sentence for taking illegal drugs during her pregnancy.

Pamela Jane Cruz-Reyes was arrested last month after testing positive for having cocaine in her blood. Cruz-Reyes pleaded guilty in court Monday, admitting to authorities she used cocaine and smoked marijuana during her pregnancy.

Deputies were called to Upstate Carolina Medical Center on Thanksgiving Day at the request of the state Social Services Department regarding the welfare of Cruz-Reyes' newborn infant. The baby was taken into emergency protective custody and has since been placed in foster care by the state agency.

Cruz-Reyes told authorities she was addicted to cocaine and marijuana before she got pregnant. Cruz-Reyes says she smoked one marijuana cigarette with hopes it might help her morning sickness. Cruz-Reyes says she used cocaine three days before giving birth to ease pain from a toothache.

Prosecutor Trey Gowdy says Cruz-Reyes' addiction was so severe she put her baby in harm's way.

I am seeing more and more horror stories like this one daily. Women give birth and the hospital proceeds to test the baby for whatever strikes their fancy, then proceed to call in the government sanctioned kidnappers to KIDNAP newborns.
If Ms. Cruz-Reyes had such an awful addiction how come her Obstetrician did not offer her help while pregnant?
Who will be helped by the state stealing newborn babies from their mothers?
The horror of that is unimaginable. The mother and baby miss a CRITICAL bonding time.

Marijuana Ingredient May Block Spread of Cancer-Causing Herpes

Marijuana as Medicine 
THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannbinol), the ingredient in marijuana that produces the "high" reaction, may block the spread of certain herpes viruses known to cause cancer, according to recent research conducted at the University of South Florida College of Medicine.

Read more HERE...

Pot TV News Dec. 14, 2004

View Show Here

New Mexico Politician BUSTED!
8-year-old Girl Suspended for Jell-O
Souder's Safe and Effective Drug Act
Cause it Struck me Strange
Karzai Pledges to Fight Opium
Introducing Super Coca
President Carter's Grandson Busted for Pot
13-year-old girl STRIP SEARCHED for Pot
Serial Pissing Cop Slide Show
Jonathan Magbie TORTURED!

Pictures from Christmas Event

Me & My Daughter 


Cutie Pie 


Line for Santa 


Pretty Baby 


Santa's Lap 

Catching Up!

I am a few days behind due to other commitments and holiday stuff. So, here is a quick round-up of today's drug policy reform news.

The Drug Policy Alliance is receiving Love Notes from the TSA

Pete Guither over at Drug War Rant tells us we have another 4 years of John Walters to look forward to.

Libby at LastOneSpeaks reports that the DEA Rejects UMASS Pot Petition

Inamte Abuse is Pervasive in U.S.

Police Brutality 
Goodwater, Alabama - According to his mother, Daniel Bryan Kelley will never be the same after spending a little more than two months in the Coosa County Jail.

"The damage that was done to Bryan can't be undone," Wanda Kelley said.

Citing abusive and harassing treatment which caused permanent physical injury as well mental and emotional injuries while in the Coosa County Jail, Bryan Kelley filed a claim against the Coosa County Commission Dec. 1.

The claim states Kelley was denied adequate medical treatment and was subjected to inhumane and unfit living conditions, but no charges have been filed against the jail or the commission.

"I don't expect a jail to be a Holiday Inn but they should be treated like humans," Kelley's mother said.

According to his mother, Kelley was put into solitary confinement for more than 40 days in the Rockford jail.

"The sheriff claimed it was for medical reasons," she said. "He said that the room was a medical treatment room."

According to the claim notice, the cell referred to as "the hole" did not have clean water for drinking and washing; it did not have a bed, and Kelley was forced to sleep on the floor next to the drain hole. It also did not have a toilet, and Kelley was forced to urinate and defecate in the drain hole next to where he slept.

I live about 6 miles from Goodwater, Alabama and I know the Sheriff personally. In fact, he is the first black sheriff ever elected in a white majority county in Alabama. When I worked as a cashier at Kellyton Shop-N-Fill, Sheriff Ricky Owens, who was a deputy at the time, was a regular customer. He and I had numerous conversations about pot. I always thought Ricky was a decent human being. But after reading this story I am no longer sure. However, it isn't just Sheriff Owens jail where "inmates" suffer abuse. It happens in jails and prisons all over the country every single day. When the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal broke earlier this year I did a show comparing it to treatment of American prisoners. There is a pervasive mentality that if you get arrested then you no longer deserve to be treated with any compassion, dignity or respect. The fact that you might be innocent doesn't matter and even if you are guilty as charged that is NOT JUSTIFICATION for the torture and abuse dealt out by police officers and prison guards.

For more on prisoner abuse see
Human Rights Watch
Stop Prisoner Rape
The Rodney Hulin Story

Playing Ms. Claus Today

Alabama's Children of the Incarcerated 
Today I will be in Montgomery, Alabama handing out Christmas gifts to Alabama children whose parents are in jail or prison for non-violent drug offenses. Through the generous donations of others the Alabama Marijuana Party was able to purchase 10 CD walkman's and 4 Polaroid instant mini-picture cameras.

A HUGE thanks to all of you who sent money to help with this project. Know that some kid will be smiling today because of your generosity.

Happy Holidays!

Loretta Nall
US Marijuana Party

INSPECTOR GENERAL TO PROBE D.C. INMATE DEATH

Pubdate: Sat, 11 Dec 2004
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2004 The Washington Post Company
Contact: letters@washpost.com
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Manny Fernandez, Washington Post Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Magbie (Jonathan Magbie)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

INSPECTOR GENERAL TO PROBE D.C. INMATE DEATH

Quadriplegic Man Had Respiratory Failure


Jonathan Magbie 

The D.C. inspector general's office has launched an inquiry into the
death of Jonathan Magbie, the quadriplegic inmate who died in
September after suffering breathing problems.

Magbie's family began pressing for an investigation soon after his
death, raising questions about his treatment by the courts, the D.C.
Department of Corrections and Greater Southeast Community Hospital,
where he died Sept. 24. The central issue is whether authorities were
equipped to handle a patient with Magbie's health problems while he
served a 10-day sentence on a drug charge.

Interim Inspector General Austin A. Andersen said yesterday that the
inquiry will review probes that have been done by other D.C. agencies,
evaluate policies and procedures and determine whether they were
properly followed. The various reviews include one that was recently
completed by the D.C. Department of Health, which found that the
hospital had failed to provide Magbie with adequate care.

Andersen said his office will examine the other probes and conduct an
investigation into what took place. "We're planning on going through
it from top to bottom," he said.

City Administrator Robert C. Bobb said he asked the inspector general
to conduct the investigation. Results are expected early next year,
though no firm deadline was set.

Bobb said he wanted the inspector general to look into the Health
Department's report as well as other reviews of the case, including
those by the D.C. Department of Corrections and Greater Southeast.

"I want to satisfy myself that everything that we did in this case,
throughout this entire chain of events, was done appropriately and
consistent with best practices and our own policies," Bobb said yesterday.

Bobb's request for an investigation was reported by WTOP radio
yesterday.

Magbie, 27, of Mitchellville, was paralyzed from the neck down after
he was struck by a drunk driver when he was 4. He used a motorized
wheelchair that he operated with his chin. He wound up in legal
trouble in April 2003 when he was arrested while riding with a cousin
in his family's Hummer in Southeast Washington. D.C. police found
cocaine, marijuana and a gun in the vehicle.

Magbie pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of marijuana. D.C.
Superior Court Judge Judith E. Retchin gave him the jail sentence,
noting the presence of the gun in the Hummer and Magbie's insistence
that he would continue to smoke marijuana because it made him feel
better. A pre-sentence report had recommended probation, and
prosecutors did not object to giving Magbie probation.

Retchin had said that she was led to believe that Magbie's medical
needs could be met by corrections officials.

Hours after he arrived at the D.C. jail Sept. 20, Magbie had
difficulty breathing. He told a jail nurse that he used a ventilator
to help him breathe at night, according to the Health Department's
investigation. The jail did not have such equipment, and he was taken
to the emergency room at Greater Southeast.

The Health Department said that an emergency room doctor erred by
releasing Magbie to the jail's care Sept. 21 without addressing his
ventilator needs at night. The doctor, however, maintains that
Magbie's breathing stabilized and that the jail could aid him with
nasal oxygen.

Magbie ended up returning to Greater Southeast on Sept. 24 because of
breathing problems, and he died later that day of acute respiratory
failure.

Magbie's mother, Mary Scott, has said that she holds the judge, the
jail and the hospital responsible for her son's death. She did not
return messages yesterday.

Joan Phillips, Greater Southeast's chief executive, defended the care
the hospital provided Magbie and said she welcomed "objective
investigations." She said the hospital is conducting two reviews that
will examine decision-making by its doctors, communication and other
clinical issues stemming from the case.

"I do think that everything that we did was according to practice,"
Phillips said.

Leah Gurowitz, a D.C. Superior Court spokeswoman, said Chief Judge
Rufus G. King III is reviewing procedures for transferring inmates and
looking into whether communication can be improved between the courts
and the jail.

Corrections officials have said that Magbie received "all the
necessary treatment" while in custody. A corrections spokesman said
the department has cooperated with previous investigations and will do
so with the inspector general's inquiry.

Jonathan Magbie TORTURED!!

Our friend Colbert I. King takes on the DC Health Department report on the death of Jonathan Magbie. This is so hard to read. To think about how Mr. Magbie suffered is about more than I can take. To KNOW that Retchin will never be held accountable for sentencing him to jail and thereby JUDICIAL HOMICIDE.......GRRRRR!!!!
Get you tissue box, your stress ball and your blood pressure pills ready. You'll need all three.

Missing Answers About Jonathan Magbie

By Colbert I. King

Saturday, December 11, 2004

Washington Post

The first thing you notice when you read the D.C. Health Department's report into the death of 27-year-old quadriplegic Jonathan Magbie is that several critical pieces of information have been blacked out. The second thing that becomes obvious is that while the Health Department correctly points an accusing finger at Greater Southeast Community Hospital for giving Magbie substandard care, the report gives the medical staff at the Corrections Department a pass, even though the jail's doctors failed to make it clear to the hospital that Magbie could not be properly cared for at the Correctional Treatment Facility. Third, the report raises as many questions as it answers. And finally, you can't help wishing that Superior Court Judge Judith Retchin would read the report too, because there is no way on earth that a human being in Magbie's condition, and a first-time offender found guilty of simple possession of marijuana, should have been sent to a place such as the D.C. jail.

This week I turned to two sets of practiced eyes to review the Health Department's report. These health experts -- one in Washington, the other in Virginia -- reached similar conclusions about the quality of care provided at Greater Southeast. It was poor. But they also said that a failure of communication between the hospital and the jail contributed to the tragedy, as did the decision to incarcerate him in the first place.

Now for the report.

Let's start with salient aspects of Magbie's physical state in the days immediately preceding and at the time of his death, which occurred Sept. 24 while he was under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections.

On Sept. 20 Retchin sent to jail a man who had a high spinal cord disruption leading to no -- or limited -- use of his arms and no use of his legs. He had a permanent tracheotomy; was ventilator-dependent at least part of the time, especially when tired or sleeping; had partial diaphragm paralysis requiring the use of a diaphragm pacer; had a permanent indwelling stomach tube and a permanent indwelling urinary catheter, and contracture of the muscles and tendons.

What other conditions were present at the time of death?

Magbie had heart disease, asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease, low blood pressure, low blood sugar and pressure (or bed) sores. He also had a probable urinary tract infection leading to sepsis (or the absorption of microorganisms into the bloodstream), and probable pneumonia in his left lung.

Magbie was severely ill when he was released from the hospital and returned to the Corrections Department on Sept. 21. According to the report, his white blood count was abnormal -- but the result was blacked out. Rale and wheezing -- a possible indicator of asthma, pneumonia or heart failure -- had been heard during his hospital examination. But the report did not include any lab results or the result of a portable chest X-ray that Magbie had been given.

The Health Department was also silent on why the initial plan to admit Magbie to the hospital on Sept. 21 was changed to discharge him back to the Corrections Department. Also unanswered is the question of whether Magbie's problems, as documented in the hospital's emergency department on Sept. 21, had been fully disclosed to Corrections Department medical staff -- and if not, why. And if the Corrections Department had been informed, why did it take him back? The Health Department report did not address those critical questions.

There are other mysteries, too.

On Sept. 24, the day he died, Magbie was found unresponsive at the jail and was returned to the hospital's emergency room and given lab and X-ray tests. But the results of the chest X-ray, urine toxicity test and white blood count were blacked out in the Health Department report. Part of the urinalysis was blacked out, too. Why? Did the chest X-ray and white blood count show he had significant pneumonia?

And why was the urine drug screen result also blacked out? A possible clue: Page 11 of the report contains this entry at the time of his second and final admission to Greater Southeast on Sept. 24: "1:20 pm: Disposition time: Clinical impression: Altered mental status, Multi-substance abuse, Pneumonia, Urinary tract infection-Urospesis."

"Multi-substance abuse"? Yes, drugs. Magbie, the report shows, was given Narcan, which is a reversal agent for narcotics.

Which raises the question: What kind of recent narcotic substance would Magbie have had in his system, since at the time of the test he had already been in the custody of the Corrections Department for four days? As a quadriplegic, Magbie surely couldn't have taken anything by himself. There are no answers in the Health Department report.

Finally, there's the cause of death. The chief medical examiner attributed it to dislodgement of Magbie's tube. Who dislodged it, when and where? And what happened to the inner cannula, the device to be connected to a tracheotomy tube that helps a patient breathe? The report doesn't say, except to note that when emergency medical services staffers were ready to transport Magbie to the hospital on the morning of Sept. 24, "the EMS could not connect the oxygen to the tracheotomy tube, it would not connect. The [Correctional Treatment Facility's chief medical officer] stated he cut some tubing from another product and attached the tubing into the tracheotomy so the patient could receive oxygen." At that point, Magbie was unconscious at the jail and the inner cannula tube was missing.

And the Health Department considers this case closed?

kingc@washpost.com

Alabama Lawmaker Proposes Book Ban

Rep. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, unveiled an anti-gay lifestyle bill that prohibits state money from being used on books and other materials and programs that would "sanction, recognize, foster or promote" homosexuality and similar activities that violate state law.
He said he would like to "dig a big hole and bury" materials that are in publicly funded institutions now.
The ban "would be removing a good portion of the classics of Western civilizations, " said Mark Potok, director of the Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, "So I think it's a jackass proposal, to put it plainly."
See also: 'We have to protect people' for the Bush/Allen connection.
View the bill: HB30 (PDF) in all it's glory.
Wouldn't passage of this bill technically make it illegal for the resulting law to be printed as this would be spending state money on material that "recognizes" homosexuality? This law would outlaw itself!

New Mexico "ZERO TOLERANCE" Politician BUSTED!

E. Shirley Baca 
NM “zero-tolerance” politician BUSTED!

New Mexico Public Regulation Commission member E. Shirley Baca is facing criticism after her arrest for marijuana possession.

Baca, 53, a Las Cruces Democrat, was arrested Wednesday morning at Albuquerque International Sunport after baggage screeners found less than an ounce of marijuana inside a pipe concealed in her checked baggage, according to a Metro Court criminal complaint.

Federal TSA screeners said they were examining Baca's luggage around 7 a.m. when a trace detector was alarmed for explosives, according to the complaint.

In June 2003, Baca spoke harshly about substance abuse among PRC employees when chief of staff Patrick Baca was charged with driving drunk.

She said at the time she would consider asking that Patrick Baca be terminated or suspended regardless of the outcome of his case in court.

"Personally," she said at the time, "I think that top-ranking staff need to set an example for the whole department, as well as elected officials."

Here is more from KOBTV New Mexico

Perhaps Ms. Baca should take a page from her own book. However, she is not alone in her hypocrisy. In fact she is the newest addition to a long list of public officials that govern themselves or their children by a different set if rules than they govern us. A few of her esteemed colleagues are


Richard Shelby 

Senator Richard Shelby whose son was busted at Atl. Int. Airport in 1998 smuggling 13.8 grams of hash from London. He was released after paying a $500 fine.


Noelle Bush 

Noelle Bush niece of George Bush busted with crack cocaine, forging prescriptions and stealing drugs from the nurses cart while in rehab….punishment 13 days total in jail.



Dan Burton 

Republican Representative Dan Burton backed the death penalty for drug traffickers, but when his son Dan II was convicted of felony possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in 1994, the elder Burton asked the judge for leniency.


Duke Cunningham 

Republican Congressman Duke Cunningham also advocated the death penalty for drug dealers, until his son Randy was convicted of having 400 pounds of pot. He pled for mercy for his son

On another note those airport machines can pick up even the most minute trace of pot. Since I am often around it when I travel abroad my luggage sets off the "sensors" every single time. Let this serve as a heads up for those of you.....