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)

The Congressman from Colorado, in a bold move last week to assist unemployed American IT workers, introduced HB 2688. Congressman Tom Tancredo, has introduced a 15-line bill proposing the elimination of all visas under the H1-B category, created in 1952 under the guise of providing the US economy with technically skilled foreign workers.

In recent years, the number of H1-B visa’s issues had swelled. H-1B workers have obviously been a source of cheap labor, so much so that many IT departments laid-off American workers in favor of labor imports, mainly from India.

The results have been disturbing. University studies have shown that H-1B programmers and engineers are paid 15 percent to 33 percent below normal, and the Wall Street Journal has reported that the H1Bs are paid $20,000 to $25,000 less than comparable Americans. Similar findings were issued in a 2000 report from the National Research Council.

The Economic Times (an India Times Publication) would have us believe this “move is patently unfair and will not help unemployment. Rather it will cripple the high-tech and other technical industries and undercut the American hi-tech industry’s ability to be a competitive global leader.”

In light of a recent move to eliminate over-time pay by President Bush, (Bill HR 1119) affecting IT specialists and having the pleasure of personally knowing a gentleman living and working in this country under the H1-B visa the only word that comes to mind is, “Hogwash.”

“Sam” an IT worker from Indian lives with the constant fear of being sent back to India, with 10-days notice. He makes far less than his American counter-parts and puts up with a great deal more from the company he works for than most American workers would. He seems to handle the stress well but a great deal is at stake for him and his family.

Sam puts up with this injustice because of his opportunity to be sponsored by his employer for a green card, allowing him to live permanently in the United States. H-1B visa holders are not considered immigrants but “temporary” workers, who are allowed to remain in the United States only at the pleasure of their employers. This is, in effect, indentured servitude – slavery – and creates strong incentives to accept lower pay.

Congressman Tom Tancredo began his crusade to end this injustice November 1, 2001, when he introduced a similar bill HR 3222.

Please contact your Congressman and ask that they support this bill.

Have you been replaced by an H1-B visa worker? I’d like to hear your story.

Annette M. Hall