The RAnts of RA

Question: Why are the feds cracking down on medical marijuana dispensaries?

Answer: Because they can.

But perhaps, not for long…

Medical pot advocates sue feds over crackdown

By MARCUS WOHLSEN, Associated Press
November 7, 2011

Support Medical Marijuana

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Attorneys for medical marijuana advocates on Monday sought a temporary restraining order to put a stop to a federal crackdown on California pot dispensaries, claiming the effort by the state’s four U.S. attorneys is unconstitutional.

Plaintiffs asked U.S. District Court Judge Donna Ryu in Oakland to issue an order barring the government from arresting or prosecuting patients, dispensary owners or landlords of properties housing dispensaries.

Pot advocates said dispensaries in the San Francisco Bay area would start closing this weekend if a restraining order was not issued.

The state’s four federal prosecutors last month announced a broad effort to close pot clubs, in particular by sending letters to landlords who rent space to pot dispensaries threatening to seize their property under federal drug trafficking laws.

Lawsuits filed starting Friday in all four of California’s federal court jurisdictions accuse the Department of Justice of entrapping pot providers by reversing its own policy, among other legal issues.

Caught in the middle are the sick, the elderly and the crippled, who suffer in pain and agony, each and every day. In many cases marijuana provides the only relief available. Many patients have found the smoking pot gives them back their very lives.

One medical marijuana user was very close to becoming addicted to prescription pain meds, the doctors were prescribing them like candy to the patient. When she complained about the side-effects and new ailments the prescription medications were causing her, the doctors attempted to prescribe anti-depressants on top of the pain medication, to help her be more tolerant of the damages the pain meds caused. This patient was seeing five medical  specialists and was even told by one “medical professional” that they needed spinal replacement surgery.

Smoking pot allows this patient to enjoy small portions of the day, to smile and even cook occasionally. You can’t put a price tag on the quality of life and that is exactly what we are talking about here. The feds want to control our ability to enjoy life without harmful drugs with even worse side effects, up to and including death.

The war on drugs has run it’s course. The federal government lost but instead of simply conceding defeat, they are lashing out, sort of like Custer’s Last Stand.

We know the federal government is broke and looking for revenue sources, but to resort to outright theft is an egregious miscarriage of justice and must stop.

This so-called “crack down” by the federal government for some reason targets only residents of California, even though similar laws exist in Colorado and Michigan. A curious person might ask why  the sudden crackdown only  in California? Will California law enforcement agencies, such as the Tuolumne Narcotics Team share in the ill-gotten gain when they seize the property of law abiding citizens?

Where is the ACLU when you need them? Let’s hope that U.S. District Court Judge Donna Ryu in Oakland does the right thing by issuing a restraining order.  This is an outrage.

Related articles

• Medical Marijuana Patients, Dispensaries File Suit Against Feds Over Crackdown (sfist.com)
• Lawsuits challenge federal pot enforcement crackdown in California (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
• Recent Federal Government Actions on Marijuana Go Against Public Opinion, Notes GMSHC (prweb.com)
• Tuolumne County Bans Dispensaries  (twainhartetimes.com)
• Marijuana Cultivation Crackdown  (twainhartetimes.com)

Thermal underwear is great to have in the cold mountain snow but there is more to preparing for a trip to the mountains to play in the snow than loading up the snowboard, tire chains and filling up the gas tank.

San Francisco, Pier 39: Fisherman’s Wharf

It’s not uncommon to see people running around Twain Harte in the dead of winter in shorts. I asked one man what he was thinking and he told me he had decided to make a day trip to the mountains and forgot to pack his pants.

Mountain weather can change quickly and temperatures drop like a rock when the sun goes down. So, please don’t forget your pants at home.

I have to laugh at that because I remember one early fall day over ten years ago when our family made a trip to Pier 39 in San Francisco. We wandered around shopping, watching the seals and sampling the local  eateries. When the sun went down, the temperatures took a nose dive and even though I was wearing a sweatshirt and a coat, it was so cold, we shopped for  and purchased jackets – and grabbed a blanket from the car.

I had planned to quote Mark Twain just now: “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” But,  according to Snopes, it’s not true. You have to admit, it could be true for most Californian’s. However, since I’m from Michigan — well, let’s just say  San Francisco doesn’t come close in comparison to a cold Michigan winter.

When you know you will be out in the cold weather, be sure to bring along extra socks, wool is great at keeping the moisture away from your feet. The snow in the Sierra Nevada range  tends to be wet and heavy. Warm socks, gloves and hats are essential. As a rule of thumb, bring twice as many as you would normally bring to ensure having a dry set available.

The DOT does a terrific job of keeping the roads clear and over the past several years new signage has been erected. As such, most people make their round trip to Dodge Ridge in safety but there are times when, due to vehicle failure, a motorist can get stranded. It’s always better to be prepared for just such an emergency.

Related articles

• Winter Driving Emergency Survival Tips
• Heat Loss Through The Head
• Twain Harte Information & Photo Gallery

Closed Library in Highland Park

Question? “Where were you when the lights went out?”

Answer: “In the dark.”

Yes, the joke was funny when you were 8 or 9, but not so funny for the folks in Highland Park, Michigan.

Unable to pay bill, Mich. city turns off lights

By Corey Williams,
November 3, 2011

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich.   – As the sun dips below the rooftops each evening, parts of the Detroit enclave of Highland Park turn to pitch black. The only illumination comes from a few streetlights at the end of the block or from glowing yellow yard globes.

It wasn’t always this way. But when the debt-ridden community could no longer afford its monthly electric bill, elected officials not only turned off 1,000 streetlights. They had them ripped out – bulbs, poles and all. Now nightfall cloaks most neighborhoods in inky darkness.

We had a great laugh at the expense of our friends and relatives back in the early 1980s as people left Michigan, headed for Texas. We left in droves, the joke we shared as we drove away…

“Would the last one to leave, please turn out the lights?”

This was something we could never have foreseen from an 80’s perspective. The people stayed but the lights died out. I just wonder how many families in that community sit in the dark as well? More and more Americans are finding it tougher and tougher to keep the heat and lights on.