159 lines
9.4 KiB
Plaintext
159 lines
9.4 KiB
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::::: oxic :::......:::: hock
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presents
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ACTIVIST NEWS
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Pot Prohibition Leads to Law Abuse
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Source: HIGHTIMES, April 1987 p25
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Typed By Fetal Juice
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Toxic File #84
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BY Burt D. Neal
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NORML Asst. National Director
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Much of our current administration's "war on drugs" rhetoric
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deals with the theme that we must keep the prohibition in order to
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save our childern. While I agree that minors should not use marijuana
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or other nonmedicinal drugs, I have problems with prohibition as a
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solution. Two recent case histories are good examples of why. In
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both cases the authorities acted out of "concern" for the welfare of
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adolescents, and in both cases that concern was directed towards a
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prohibition solution - one that is doomed to failure because it all to
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often leads to the abuse of civil liberties.
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Last year, when a young teenage girl from California *turned in
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her parents* to the police, she received national headlines and the
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*prases* of *the First Lady, Nancy Reagan*. The concept of childern
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turning in their parents to the authorities, a common practice in Nazi
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Germany, was once again reborn in Western society.
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When Deenna Young turned in her parents, the police found
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quantities of cocaine that were larger then mere "possession" amounts.
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Allegedly, her parents had been addicted to coke for some time and
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were getting drawn further into a distribution network. Despite
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assurances, the teenager was seperated from her parents for a period
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of time, but they edventually faced less serious charges then could
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have been pressed. If her parents had been sent to jail it would't
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have fit in too well with the message, "kids, turn in your parents to
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save them."
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In the first case, I have received a letter from some parents in a
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western state who were not so lucky as to receive the benevolence of
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state - because they were not in the glare of the camera's eyes. When
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their 16-year old asked for permission to leave home to find herself
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they did what most parents would do: they said no. Some time later
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both *state* and *federal* drug officials burst into their home to
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arrest them. They found only the one marijuana plant that the parents
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kept for their own use, but interrogated them for days asking about
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cocaine. It turned out that their daughter, dissatisfied with her
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parent's denial of permission to leave home, had told the police that
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her parents were big-time users and sellers of cocaine
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The parents were rather surprised by the cocaine allegations, for
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they never used the substance, *choosing instead to use marijuana*.
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After several days of interrogation the authorities were convinced
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that the parents wern't the big-time dealers they'd hoped. After
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piling up thousands of dollars in legal expences, the mother was
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given probation, the father lost his job and served a year in jail,
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and the teenager got her wish and was removed from the home.
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Last November in Tennessee a similar concern for drugs around
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kids led to a similar abuse of authority. The police conducted a
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three-day undercover operation at the local high school with drug
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sellers as the target. While *no drugs* were found, *eight high
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school students* were *arrested, hand-cuffed*, and held at the police
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station for several hours while being *DENIED* a phone call. All this
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was because they possessed *TOBACCO*, a violation of a 1981 state
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statute which forbids the possession of tobacco or paraphernalia by a
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minor. When the students asked why they were being arrested they were
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told to shut up. Needless to say, their parents were rather upset,
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with the treatment of their childern received at the hands of the
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police; they let the police chief know it.
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There are several parallels in the two stories. Both are
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examples of a *waste* of taxpayer's money and police time. The
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taxpayers of that western state shelled out at least $20,000 to
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prosecute and jail those parents. And the taxpayers in Tennessee saw
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their police spend time on a three-day undercover sting that turned up
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about as much as the uncovering of Al Capone's vault on Geraldo
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Rivera's TV special: nothing
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In both cases common sense was thrown out the window, and an
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abuse of power was thought to be in order for a more "noble" cause,
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therefore making casualties out of the individuals as well as the case
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itself. I agree that minors shouldn't use tobacco. But instead of
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conducting undercover stings and putting students in handcuffs as a
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means of controlling adolescent tobacco use, there are much more
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sensible solutions that might have been used.
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Concerned about adolescent drug use? *How about outlawing
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cigarette machines*? They take anyone's money - no questions asked.
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Forget the "Mimai Vice" tactics; they don't work in the real world,
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and they won't work with tobacco.
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Their parents were victems twice, once at the hands of a vengeful
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teenager and again at the hands of a power-hungery police bureaucracy.
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The authorities could have checked out the primary source of
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information a bit further but they didn't because they were driven on
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by ambition based on *POWER*. Once they realized that they had been
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misled, the authorities didn't see any reason to temper their
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vengefulness, spending thousands of dollars to wreck havoc on this
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family because of a marijuana plant.
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The cause NORML fights for is not just the cause of marijuana.
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It is the fight against goverment intrustion into our personal lives.
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If there is one thing that history shows us. It is that unchecked
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increases in the power of authorities leads to an abuse of those
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powers.
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That is the reason why our *founding fathers* (no, I don't mean
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the *contras*!) put so much energy and faith into the Constitution.
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The cases I have mentioned are far from being the most extreme I
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have heard. They are, unfortunately, all too common. With 450,000
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marijuana arrests and millions of urine tests taking place each year,
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there are countless other such tales being told every day. With our
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current warlike atmosphere, these abuses of power will inevitably
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continue to escalate. *They will only be curtailed when you say
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enough is enough*.
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If you'd like to do something about the growth of governmental
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intrusiveness, your cause is the same as NORML's. Please get in
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contact with us and help us to help you. NORML desperately needs
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people who are willing to distribute free copies of our magazine to
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the public. Now that spring is here large outdoor gatherings are once
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again taking place. NORML needs volunteers to distribute these
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magazines at concerts, colleges, county fairs, or to friends. NORML
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needs these people in every state, and we need you now. Please give
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me a call today so that we can discuss what you can do to change the
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climate of repression.
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Childern are being urged to turn in their parents to the police
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and the arrest of adolescents for tobacco are only two results of the
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Administration's war on us. Certainly the back issues of HIGH TIMES
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have cronicled many other abuses of power in the name of a "war on
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drugs." How much more is it going to take before you decide to do
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something about it?
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Two new NORML chapters have been created. Connecticut has
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another chapter, this one in Manchester. If you'd like to help them,
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their address is Manchester NORML, P.O. Box 509, Manchester, CT
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06040-0509.
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Arkansas now has two NORML organizations forming. Little Rock
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NORML is planning to publish a newsletter and has formed a legal
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committie. Attorney Wayne Davis is the group spokesperson and will
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handle publicity tasks. L.R. NORML will work with N.W. Arkansas
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NORML, which is run by Mary Jane Fortune, and Arkansas housewife who
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has had enough of the current drug hysteria. Her letters to the
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editor have appeared in many Arkansas newspapers and have stimulated a
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public debate. She can be reached at N.W. Arkansas NORML, P.O. Box
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194, Fayettesville, AR 72702
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(c)opied right from High Times..Fetal Juice/Toxic Shock July 1990
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