Culture Warrior Neighbor States Declare War on Legalized Pot in Colorado

In what could be a blow to states’ rights Colorado voters face having their will nullified by two bible thumper infested neighbor states as well as the meddlesome federal government. In a lawsuit filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday – States of Nebraska and Oklahoma v. State of Colorado – the border states are seeking to overturn the amendment making marijuana legal. Not all voters were a mile high when the first pot stores threw open their doors for business on January 1, 2014 and the hardened culture warriors are fighting back in the biggest clash between states since the breakup of the old Big Eight. Not to be insensitive towards the sincere beliefs of others but it is the very bedrock fundamental of a democracy that people are able to make their choices at the ballot box and the majority wins. I get it that it sucks when you lose but once the votes have been cast the losers have somewhat of an obligation to fuck off and go away. 

Outside of Denver metro area, the state is a crazy quilt of hard core religious fundamentalism, old school western style conservatism and free-spirited libertarianism and it was inevitable that there would be a backlash over the legalizing of pot. What is troubling though is the interference of other states in what should solely be the business of Colorado residents. As reported by The Denver Post in a story entitled “Nebraska and Oklahoma sue Colorado over marijuana legalization”:

In the most serious legal challenge to date against Colorado's legalization of marijuana, two neighboring states have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the history-making law.

Nebraska and Oklahoma filed the lawsuit directly with the nation's highest court on Thursday. The two states argue in the lawsuit that, "the State of Colorado has created a dangerous gap in the federal drug control system."

"Marijuana flows from this gap into neighboring states, undermining Plaintiff States' own marijuana bans, draining their treasuries, and placing stress on their criminal justice systems," the lawsuit alleges.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said in a statement that he will defend the state's legalization of marijuana, saying that the lawsuit is, "without merit."

"Because neighboring states have expressed concern about Colorado-grown marijuana coming into their states, we are not entirely surprised by this action," Suthers said. "However, it appears the plaintiffs' primary grievance stems from non-enforcement of federal laws regarding marijuana, as opposed to choices made by the voters of Colorado."

Colorado voters in 2012 passed Amendment 64, which legalized use and limited possession of marijuana by anyone over 21. The new law, tied for the first in the nation to widely legalize marijuana at the state level, came after more than a decade of legal use and possession of marijuana in Colorado for certain medical purposes.

Stores able to sell up to an ounce of marijuana to any adult with a Colorado I.D. — or a quarter ounce to any adult with an out-of-state I.D. — opened on Jan. 1 this year. So far, recreational marijuana stores in Colorado have made more than $300 million in sales in 2014. The lawsuit does not target Colorado's separate medical marijuana system, where registered patients must be Colorado residents.

Nebraska and Oklahoma's complaint argues that Colorado does not have authority to pass laws that conflict with the federal prohibition on marijuana. Doing so, the states claim, violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

One could suspect that this move has much less to do with interstate drug trafficking than a desire to impose a narrow-minded moral judgment upon others. If Coloradans wanted to be subjected to the whims of entrenched culture warriors in Nebraska and Oklahoma they would move there. It is the same type of sneering contempt exhibited by Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber in his denouncing of Americans as too stupid to know what is for their own good. Whether that is entirely the case is up for debate but in fragmented late 2014 America cultural disputes bleed over into damned near everything as they have for decades. Perhaps there is even some degree of petty jealousy involved when considering that taxing marijuana sales has provided Colorado with a badly needed infusion of revenue.

The feds will wholeheartedly throw in with Nebraska and Oklahoma given the level of systemic corruption and cash that is at stake in a government long ago gone to seed. The legalizing of the devil weed is a threat to the ongoing ripoff that is the civil liberties destroying war on drugs as well as all of the state sanctioned looting enabled by drug-related asset confiscation programs. This is why police unions have fought tooth, fang and nail against eliminating the prohibition on pot. Other stakeholders in the war on letting people do whatever the hell that they damned well please – which is what a “free” country should practice – are the pharmaceutical and alcohol lobbies. The liberty-haters in Washington will gladly enlist the help of put-upon conservative populists to protect their sacred cash cows and keep the war on drugs as well as keeping the for-profit prison gulags stocked with warm bodies.

Marijuana is no more dangerous than what you can pick up legally for $10 or less down at your local liquor store. Alcohol is by far the most socially damaging drug and it is widely available – even in states like Nebraska and Oklahoma with their ridiculous blue laws - yet it is a multi-billion dollar a year industry.

It all stinks of hypocrisy just like everything else in Obamastan.

Georgia Drug Task Force Raids Retiree Over Okra Plants

There must be something strange about the water these days in the great state of Georgia. Right on the heels of the the woman who was thrown into jail over dried SpaghettiOs , news has come out about an overzealous drug task force raid against a retired man over his okra plants. When it comes to strange tales Georgia ranks right up there with the much larger California, Florida and Texas as national leaders and in the “Peach State” it always seems to involve the cops.

According to the website of Atlanta’s WSB-TV in a story entitled “Okra mistaken for pot in man’s garden”:

A Cartersville man is upset after he said investigators mistook a garden full of okra for marijuana plants.

The man growing the popular Southern food said a helicopter woke him up Wednesday and then he had deputies show up at his door.

"I was scared actually, at first, because I didn't know what was happening,” said homeowner Dwayne Perry.

All he noticed was that there was a chopper sitting unusually low over his house, then Bartow County deputies and a K-9 unit appeared at his doorstep in minutes.

"They were strapped to the gills,” Perry said.

It turned out, that helicopter was from the Governor's Task Force for drug suppression and they were out looking for domestic cannabis plants and spotted the tree and plants.

"Instead, it's okra and maybe a bush on the end of the house,” Perry said.

Channel 2’s Carl Willis called the Georgia State Patrol, who operates the task force, for an explanation. They sent an evidence photo.

"We've not been able to identify it as of yet. But it did have quite a number of characteristics that were similar to a cannabis plant,” said Georgia State Patrol Capt. Kermit Stokes.

Perry said his plants had five leaves, not seven like on the cannabis plant. He said a mistake like this shouldn't happen.

"Here I am, at home and retired and you know I do the right thing,” Perry said. “Then they come to my house strapped with weapons for no reason. It ain't right."

The authorities apologized on the scene and again when Willis called.

"If we disturbed them in any manner, that's not our intent. Our intent is to go out and do our job and do it to the best of our ability,” Stokes said.

But Perry said he doesn't think those words go far enough.

"The more I thought about it, what could have happened? Anything could have happened,” Perry said.

Perry said he's still getting calls about all of the deputy vehicles that responded at his home. He fears his reputation has been damaged.

Mr. Perry should be thankful that the heavily-armed raiders did not go in after midnight with guns blazing because the "damage" to his reputation would have been the least of his worries. He should be counting his blessings that he isn't black. 

Recent Georgia stories in addition to the SpaghettiOs incident include a  SWAT raid where a flash grenade was thrown into a toddler’s crib and an Atlanta cop murdering and burning the body of a woman he met online for sex. Now the pile of indignities includes the daring okra plant raid.

Just one more sign that the war on drugs is a long-running and expensive catastrophe. When you have cops who are incapable of telling the difference between SpaghettiO's and methamphetamine and okra and marijuana there is a huge underlying problem with the system itself.

Woman Sues Florida Cops Over Prescription Drug Arrest

A Florida woman has filed a lawsuit over her 2010 arrest and jailing over the purchase of over the counter allergy medication. Mickey Lynn Goodson bought two boxes of Sudafed at a local Winn Dixie in 2010 and was subsequently harassed, humiliated and thrown into the pokey by Gadsden County Sheriff's Department goons. This is thanks to the arbitrary and out of control laws of the failed war on drugs. The most disturbing aspect of this story is that the on duty pharmacist actually recommended that Goodson buy the extra box which put her over the limit and triggered an immediate response by the deputy dawg local law enforcement who must watch the Police Academy films for training purposes.

According to the website Courthouse News Service which provides a synopsis of the events leading to the lawsuit:

Florida sheriff's officers falsely arrested and imprisoned a woman with allergies for buying two boxes of Sudafed at a drug store, she claims in Federal Court.

Mickey Lynn Goodson claims she bought the two boxes of the over-the-counter drug because the pharmacist recommended it. She sued Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young and the two officers who arrested her, Rodney Moore and William Buckhalt.

Charges of possession of a controlled substance were eventually dropped, Goodson says in the July 18 complaint.

In July 2010, Goodson says, she went to a Winn-Dixie store to get Sudafed "because she has allergy flare-ups." Sudafed contains pseudoephedrine, which can be used as a precursor chemical in some recipes for methamphetamines.

"The pharmacist on duty suggested that plaintiff buy two boxes of Sudafed and she did," the complaint states.

"Almost immediately," defendant Officer Moore drove up in an unmarked police car, Goodson says. Moore blocked her and her husband's car, prevented them from leaving, and asked if she had just bought Sudafed. She said she had. Moore then took the Sudafed and told the Goodsons they had to wait for more officers to arrive, detaining them against their will, they say in the complaint.

Defendant Buckhalt arrived, with other deputies, and searched the Goodsons' car. They were taken to a sheriff's station, where Buckhalt asked if he could search their home. The Goodson said no, "unless there was a search warrant. Buckhalt then said, 'Oh, I'll get a search warrant,'" according to the complaint.

After being held for two to three hours, Goodson says, she left the Sheriff's office.

She was arrested and handcuffed on her front porch, by a deputy who asked her, "What have you gotten rid of?" Goodson says.

She replied, "I don't know what you are talking about," but was taken back to the county jail and booked in, charged with possession of a controlled substance.

"Plaintiff was arrested on her front porch after Buckhalt obtained a search warrant on false and misleading statements and evidence," the complaint states.

The state of Florida which I fondly refer to as "the diseased penis of America" has some of the most regressive and  insane anti-drug laws in the nation. This is particularly so when purchasing over the counter allergy medication. Not that the need for such pills is a rarity given the humid climate and the at times nearly intolerable air quality index in regards to allergens and other toxins. Trust me, I live there and buy a good amount of such medicine myself because I need to be able to breathe - not because I am cooking bathtub meth. A few years back, I had a very creepy experience at a local Target store when the pharmacy clerk snatched away my driver’s license before I could object and then quickly disappeared into the back for an uncomfortably long period of time. These low level flunkies have been watching too many episodes of Breaking Bad and it shows. Target employees and the management should spend more fucking protecting their customers from massive banking information hacking operations and less in being the dutiful little Nazis of the anti-drug Gestapo.  

Being fully aware of the nature of the nearly fully implemented American police state I more than

half expected to be hauled off by local law-enforcement thugs and summarily jailed once they ran me through their massive database. I like many others am likely a “person of interest” simply because of my anti-government political views, my writing and my activism. In the words of the late writer Hunter S. Thompson: "paranoia is just another word for ignorance". Such thoughts are  not just "paranoia",  given the times in which we live but rather just an awareness of how far down the rabbit hole that we have gone as a society. I can assure you that there are hundreds if not thousands of similar stories to that of what Mickey Lynn Goodson suffered and far worse. Sadly, since the majority of Americans are just star-spangled sheep who are conditioned to submit to the uniform and the badge rather than to challenge authority they just roll over when it happens to them. How far we have come from our tyranny adverse founders have we not?.

That being said it is nice to see Goodson suing the cops for what was obviously a blatant abuse of power. Granted it was in Gadsden County one of the smallest in the state which is located in the panhandle right on the Georgia state line but the police are running amok everywhere. It brings to mind the scene from the science fiction movie Blade Runner where Captain Bryant makes it clear to Deckard that “if you’re not a cop, you’re little people”. This seems to be the prevailing mentality among a large percentage of the police in the United States these days and they are armed to the teeth with military grade weaponry too.

No matter how little the effort may be in the grand scheme of the U.S. police state if it brings attention to the problem then it is a service to all Americans. 

Good for Mickey Lynn Goodson for taking a stand against the bastards. Fuck the Pigs!