cannabis – The Libertarian Republic https://thelibertarianrepublic.com "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God" -Benjamin Franklin Sun, 16 May 2021 17:08:38 +0000 en hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/TLR-logo-125x125.jpeg cannabis – The Libertarian Republic https://thelibertarianrepublic.com 32 32 47483843 Is This the Beginning of the End for the War On Drugs? https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/the-beginning-of-the-end-war-on-drugs/ https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/the-beginning-of-the-end-war-on-drugs/#comments Sun, 16 May 2021 17:08:38 +0000 https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/?p=119139 When thinking of war, some recall being on a battlefield with the deafening sounds of gunfire and bombs exploding around them, while others remember the grief of burying a loved one who died defending this country. Many can only imagine what it may be like from movies, documentaries or video...

The post Is This the Beginning of the End for the War On Drugs? appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> When thinking of war, some recall being on a battlefield with the deafening sounds of gunfire and bombs exploding around them, while others remember the grief of burying a loved one who died defending this country. Many can only imagine what it may be like from movies, documentaries or video games.

However, for decades, a war has been waged in our own backyards that has only received public attention in recent years. The War on Drugs has accomplished little other than being a drain on the government’s budget, while incarcerating people mostly for non-violent offenses. One of the more important contributing factors to the War on Drugs was the ban on marijuana. 

Historical Significance of Marijuana

Marijuana is not just known for getting people high; it is a plant with a variety of other uses. The term itself only relates to parts of the plant that contain large amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is responsible for affecting a person’s mental state. It is “cannabis” that refers to all products derived from the Cannabis sativa plant. “Hemp” refers to variations that have less than 0.3% of THC, while “marijuana” refers to plants that have a higher percentage of the chemical.

This differentiation is important when it comes to the context of the War on Drugs. Throughout human history, the plant itself has been used for a variety of purposes. In the American colonies, for instance, it was used to make products such as rope and textiles. At the end of the era of major cotton cultivation in the United States, cannabis became the dominant cash crop in the South. During this time period, the positive health effects it had were discovered. It was used to treat various ailments and was sold in pharmacies in the United States and Europe. Only in the early 20th century, however, was the plant used for recreational purposes.

In the 1930s, everything changed due to explicitly racist policies by J. Anslinger, who was the head of the Bureau of Narcotics. He claimed that the plant needed to be banned, as its usage had negative effects on minorities, or “degenerate races” as he called them. This was also done to reduce immigration from Mexico into the United States, using cannabis as a scapegoat. The various restrictions and subsequent bans did not occur during the War on Drugs, as many might believe, but during the Great Depression. In 1931, the plant was outlawed in 29 states spurred by the “reefer madness” propaganda promoted by the government with great public support, while in 1937, the Marijuana Tax Act was passed which taxed the sale, possession or transfer of the hemp plant. This applied not only to strains which contained THC, but to all plants derived from Cannabis sativa, which hurt cultivation even for the creation of various products.

Marijuana’s Health Benefits and Common Misconceptions

When did the War on Drugs begin? In 1970, under the Nixon administration, Congress passed the Controlled Substance Act, in which marijuana was listed as a Schedule I drug, along with other substances such as heroin, LSD, and ecstasy. This category classifies that specific drug as having no medical use with a high potential for abuse.

This is not true for many reasons. First, marijuana is often used as a pain reliever for chronic pain. Its main appeal is that it is not as strong or addictive as various opiates and is impossible to overdose on. It helps ease the pain of multiple sclerosis, while not causing the drowsiness that other drugs may that are used to treat the illness. Another important use is preventing nausea and helping facilitate weight loss, as well as reportedly helping to reduce tremors from Parkinson’s disease.

Beyond the health benefits, there seems to be no physical addiction from marijuana use, although there are signs that it can be psychologically addictive. While this may be true for some people, nearly anything can be psychologically addictive. America has an obesity problem, and although that is caused by a variety of reasons, one of them is that people may get addicted to sugary drinks. Why is marijuana treated differently? Even the non-THC strains are still illegal in many states and for what purpose? The government does not regulate how much food one should consume on a given day. Obviously, it would be logistically impossible , and is a violation of people’s liberty to do with their body as they please. If someone smokes marijuana, they should be responsible for their own actions, even if they were under the influence and hurt someone else. Yet, this drug became a major substance that many people were and are convicted of illegally possessing in the War on Drugs. 

Related Posts
Impact of the War on Drugs

There are a few major things that happened as a result of the policy itself. During the 1990s, an average of three 500-bed prison facilities were opening up every week in the U.S.. They were filled with drug offenders. In 1979, 6% of all inmates were jailed on drug offenses. That figure rose to 21% in 1988. This disproportionately affected minorities and low-income citizens.

Under the Reagan and Bush administrations, mandatory sentencing laws were passed regardless of the circumstances, which in turn led to more arrests. There was an increase in border security to prevent traffickers from bringing over marijuana, yet Colombia became a major exporter of it during this time period. Ironically enough, the usage of the plant among teenagers continued at similar rates throughout the mid to late 1990s, and the enforcement of various laws did not help the government at all in reducing drug usage. 

Today, the picture is not much different. One in five people are incarcerated for a drug offense. In 2019 alone, there were over 1.5 million arrests—87% of those were just for possession. Marijuana led as the most common drug to be found in the possession of those arrested. This means most of those people were arrested for a victimless crime and had their lives ruined as a result. If a college student, goes to jail on a possession charge, he would have great difficulty getting a job with that record, and would likely either end up in and out of jail and on welfare. In terms of finances, over $1 trillion dollars has been blown on these useless cat and mouse games with the government and its citizens. This is another drain on taxpayer dollars that could have been used elsewhere.

Solutions to the Problems Caused by the War on Drugs

How can the War on Drugs be brought to a close and the damage done repaired? There have been a few steps taken. Over the years, more and more states have decriminalized, and even legalized marijuana to certain capacities. As of June 2019, 29 states have legalized medicinal marijuana and a total of 11 permit recreational use. Yet, many other drugs remain illegal in the United States, contributing to the high incarceratino rate.

Oregon is one state that has taken a stand in decriminalizing the use of all drugs, including cocaine and heroin in 2020. To be more specific, criminal penalties have been removed for those possessing small quantities, and offenders would instead pay a $100 fine, or be required to get a “completed health assessment”. Yet the sale of these drugs is still illegal. The tax revenue from marijuana sales, however, would be redirected to fund drug addiction programs instead of spending them on incarceration. The impacts of the legal policy have yet to be studied, and will need to be revisited in the long-term. However, we do have data of a country that did end the criminalization of drugs more or less successfully—Portugal.

For many years, Portugal was riddled with crime and drug use. They began to institute new policies in 2001. Instead of jail time, offenders might receive a small fine, given a warning, or asked to appear before a local commission to provide support services to addicts. As a result, there was a large drop in drug use, HIV and hepatitis infection rates. HIV cases fell from 104.2 new cases per million to just 4.2 cases per million in 2015. One major thing to note, is that a cultural shift was required to help pass the law, as well as change the way citizens viewed drug addicts. Instead of treating them with disgust, they became viewed as people who needed help, just like anyone else with a medical condition. Portugal has been successful in its efforts to decriminalize not just marijuana, but drugs as a whole with positive outcomes as a result. The United States could borrow this idea, and try to pass it in Congress, though this seems unlikely due to the partisan attitudes toward drugs overall.

Conclusion

Although important measures to address the War on Drugs have been implemented, there is still a lot of work to do. Many states have not yet decriminalized marijuana, much less all drugs. With the success of the program in Portugal, there is a good chance it would work here in the United States.

Throwing people in jail for what they choose to do on their own time is a violation of their own personal liberty. Since they are not hurting anyone in the vast majority of cases, the government has only made things worse instead of better. While the future remains unclear about what will happen next, two-thirds of the public support marijuana legalization. Perhaps the country is now ready to acknowledge and correct the mistakes of 50 years ago.

The post Is This the Beginning of the End for the War On Drugs? appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/the-beginning-of-the-end-war-on-drugs/feed/ 6 119139 Forced to Become a Medical Refugee, Abby Rowe Can Finally Come Home https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/medical-refugee-abby-rowe-can-finally-come-home/ https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/medical-refugee-abby-rowe-can-finally-come-home/#comments Sun, 02 May 2021 17:20:40 +0000 https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/?p=119046 Eapen Thampy has worked in politics and advocated to legalize cannabis for years. But now, he is among those who need the policies he advocates for to become reality. Currently, he is facing federal marijuana charges to which he has pled guilty. Over the years, Eapen has built relationships with...

The post Forced to Become a Medical Refugee, Abby Rowe Can Finally Come Home appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> Eapen Thampy has worked in politics and advocated to legalize cannabis for years. But now, he is among those who need the policies he advocates for to become reality. Currently, he is facing federal marijuana charges to which he has pled guilty. Over the years, Eapen has built relationships with an incredibly diverse number of people. Abby Rowe is one of them. She met Eapen when they were both students at the University of Missouri in the early 2000s and they connected over politics, justice, and medical cannabis.

Abby suffers from a rare connective tissue disorder that causes progressive pain, fatigue, and more. She tells me, “In college, the physicality of going to class and studying in the library really started to take a toll on me. My doctors didn’t know how to treat me; it was a disease that they didn’t know much about.” She adds, “Now they know so much more, but at that point they didn’t.” Abby clarifies that at this point in her early college experience, she was confused and suffering without guidance or understanding from many. “I was really stressed out and struggling to keep up with everything when I met Eapen.”

A mutual friend suggested that Abby talk to Eapen and that is when she first considered medical cannabis. “Eapen was one of the first people to talk to me about medical cannabis and some of the options that other states were starting to legalize. I learned about things I grew up being afraid of because there is so much social construction around cannabis; especially negative connotations that have been made about it. He was someone that gently pushed me to educate myself because he thought I might benefit from medical cannabis.”

It did benefit her. In fact, she eventually got off the other drugs that she says, “I didn’t need anyway,” and that were lowering her standard of living, causing her to live in a haze. She replaced those drugs with medical cannabis. Abby credits Eapen with being the first person to seriously recommend medical marijuana, but shortly after, a doctor told her she needed to seek alternative medicine and suggested she move to Colorado.

Abby had to leave the state she loved so she could seek the medical care that she desperately needed. She recalls that people called her a “medical refugee” when she moved from Missouri to Colorado around 2013. After five years, she then moved to New Hampshire, where she has been for nearly two years.

She found legal and safe access to medical cannabis in a different state, but Abby looks forward to coming back to Missouri once marijuana is accessible. Abby’s voice softens in a dream of the past and hope for the future when she recounts, “Missouri is a special place; it has so much to offer as far as parks and amazing places to explore outdoors. When it comes to our cities: jazz, sports in KC and St. Louis, museums, food, and Missourians themselves who really care about their community and each other.”

Abby’s story of medical cannabis, advocacy, and justice coincides with Eapen’s. She reminds me that in over ten years of knowing him, she’s seen him work tirelessly and passionately on the things he cares about. “I really don’t think that the state needs to worry about him reoffending. He’s got a lot of things that matter more to him and is goal focused and cares more about the other projects he’s working on.”

Abby’s story doesn’t end here. Eapen’s journey is not complete. Neither has cannabis’ future been determined. Life moves ever forward. Missouri recently legalized medical cannabis and is slowly making progress. Abby hopes to come back to the state she loves once her needs can legally be met. Eapen continues to advocate for others who find themselves marginalized by the criminal justice system with Crossing Paths PAC, and works with The Weldon Project to bring attention and solutions to those suffering under cannabis laws. Both hope for the day when people will be free to choose.

Related Posts

Image: O’Dea at Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The post Forced to Become a Medical Refugee, Abby Rowe Can Finally Come Home appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/medical-refugee-abby-rowe-can-finally-come-home/feed/ 3 119046 Terminally Ill Missouri Man Convicted of Marijuana Possession Dies Alone in Prison https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/terminally-ill-missouri-man-convicted-of-marijuana-possession-dies-alone-in-prison/ https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/terminally-ill-missouri-man-convicted-of-marijuana-possession-dies-alone-in-prison/#comments Thu, 21 May 2020 22:58:42 +0000 https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/?p=112538 Steven Sutherland was in the midst of a slow and painful death on the day authorities raided his rural Missouri home in 2015. Sutherland died alone in a prison cell on May 9, 2020.  He was 59 years old with a birthday coming up on June 27th. He was found...

The post Terminally Ill Missouri Man Convicted of Marijuana Possession Dies Alone in Prison appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> Steven Sutherland was in the midst of a slow and painful death on the day authorities raided his rural Missouri home in 2015. Sutherland died alone in a prison cell on May 9, 2020.  He was 59 years old with a birthday coming up on June 27th.

He was found guilty of possessing marijuana and sentenced to ten years in prison. His son tells me at the time of arrest, he had high blood pressure, seizures, and used oxygen at the time of conviction. During the court proceedings, Sutherland was admitted to the hospital at least once.

The jury convicted him despite his argument that he used the marijuana to ease his failing health and despite the fact that Missouri had recently, voted to legalize medical marijuana. His son mentioned, ”I do believe his prison sentence was excessive, and I think taxpayer dollars going towards victimless crimes is ridiculous as a whole…especially while in the process of medicinal marijuana becoming legal in Missouri”.

However, he adds that his father was offered a guilty plea bargain that would have granted him probation of five years with random drug testing, “I told him to take that deal”.

Adela Wisdom is a judicial reform advocate with an emphasis on cannabis inmates, and a Congressional candidate­­. She argues that Sutherland’s case never should have been brought to court. “He never should have gone to prison in the first place and the fact that he died alone because he was in prison for a plant is horrendous”.

Wisdom has been writing to him for the last year while his sickness was worsening. She points out that Sutherland was growing his own cannabis because he was sick. He was a medical marijuana patient in the state of Colorado. It became expensive to buy from Colorado, so he started to grow his own plants.

However, Wisdom reminds me that even when you buy it legally from Colorado, another state does not have to respect your prescription. In other words, complying with laws in some states is still considered illegal behavior in other states. Therefore, “I believe the solution is to remove cannabis from the controlled substance act PERIOD.”

Related Posts

Sutherland was petitioning the court to release him from the time he was sentenced. It was obvious that 10 years in prison was a death sentence for the ill man. Christina Frommer of Canna Convict Project says, “The Parole Board had Sutherland’s medical release papers in their hands and they sat on it”. When she called, the officials told her the board couldn’t hear his case until August. She pleaded that he didn’t have that long to live, but they were not moved since it was likely he would not qualify for early release. He had not served 30% of his sentence which usually must be completed before parole is offered.

Sutherland finally succumbed to cancer which was found while he was in prison, about three months ago. By that time, the cancer was in Stage 4. He made the decision to decline treatment because he felt the cancer was too far along and it was pointless. Soon after, he fell into a comatose state.

Adela Wisdom views Sutherland’s case as another example of a legal system that is hindered by an obsession with marijuana plants, “Is the intent of our justice system to put a dying, sick man in prison for the last year of his life because he grew some pot plants?”

It is true that Mr. Sutherland was a repeat offender. He was found guilty of possessing and distributing marijuana in the 1990s, and because of that offense he was not allowed to legally possess a gun. A firearm was found in his home when police raided it. The weapon charge is one of the reasons for the length of the 10-year prison sentence.

Wisdom admits, “recidivism is high amongst cannabis offenders”. She believes the solution is multifaceted, but one of the main points is to stop the government from harassing citizens for cultivating a plant.

Sutherland had reports of violent behavior both officially documented in restraining orders and personal stories that I was told about. However, the marijuana charge is what sentenced him to prison for (what everyone knew) would be the rest of his life.

The state of Missouri nor the US government has acted to end the federally endorsed hysteria against the marijuana plant. Sutherland’s death was inevitable regardless of the government’s actions. The cancer was going to end his life naturally. But he could have been at home. Instead, the last days of his nearly 60 years of life were spent in a prison.

When Sutherland’s son looks at the greater picture, the lesson is clear that individuals are responsible for their personal behavior and faults. But the system could take measures to not exacerbate the problem. “Understand that so many people with mental illness do not get the help they need and they fall through the cracks all too often; drug offenders often time do not need to be in prison—they need quality rehabilitation and support.”

The post Terminally Ill Missouri Man Convicted of Marijuana Possession Dies Alone in Prison appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/terminally-ill-missouri-man-convicted-of-marijuana-possession-dies-alone-in-prison/feed/ 13 112538 The (Unjust) Constitutional Basis for Restrictions on Marijuana Licenses in Missouri https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/the-unjust-constitutional-basis-for-restrictions-on-marijuana-licenses-in-missouri/ https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/the-unjust-constitutional-basis-for-restrictions-on-marijuana-licenses-in-missouri/#comments Wed, 13 May 2020 19:09:34 +0000 https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/?p=112279 This Constitutional reform created an entire system of personal and commercial medical marijuana licensing which has been the focus of significant controversy after almost 90% of applicants were denied applications for cultivation, manufacturing, or dispensary licenses due to onerous restrictions in the Amendment 2 framework (now Article XIV of the...

The post The (Unjust) Constitutional Basis for Restrictions on Marijuana Licenses in Missouri appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]>

This Constitutional reform created an entire system of personal and commercial medical marijuana licensing which has been the focus of significant controversy after almost 90% of applicants were denied applications for cultivation, manufacturing, or dispensary licenses due to onerous restrictions in the Amendment 2 framework (now Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution).

These restrictions are largely misunderstood. Many individuals and entities believe these restrictions exist solely through the discretion of the Department of Health & Senior Services and the bureaucrats charged with implementing Article XIV. This is false. The reality is that the restrictions on licensing are based on the text of Article XIV. The Article XIV drafters intentionally made this a difficult and confusing task so as to hide their intent; one has to read carefully and link several parts of the text to understand this.

The text of Article XIV provides (Section 1, Subsection 3, Paragraphs 15-17) first that licenses may be limited:

(15) The department may restrict the aggregate number of licenses granted for medical marijuana cultivation facilities, provided, however, that the number may not be limited to fewer than one license per every one hundred thousand inhabitants, or any portion thereof, of the state of Missouri, according to the most recent census of the United States. A decrease in the number of inhabitants in the state of Missouri shall have no impact. (16) The department may restrict the aggregate number of licenses granted for marijuana-infused products manufacturing facilities, provided, however, that the number may not be limited to fewer than one license per every seventy thousand inhabitants, or any portion thereof, of the state of Missouri, according to the most recent census of the United States. A decrease in the number of inhabitants in the state of Missouri shall have no impact. (17) The department may restrict the aggregate number of licenses granted for medical marijuana dispensary facilities, provided, however, that the number may not be limited to fewer than twenty-four licenses in each United States congressional district in the state of Missouri pursuant to the map of each of the eight congressional districts as drawn and effective on December 6, 2018. Future changes to the boundaries of or the number of congressional districts shall have no impact.

Further, Article XIV (Section 3, Subsection 1, Paragraph h) provides that the Department of Health & Senior Services shall:

(h) Establish a system to numerically score competing medical marijuana licensee and certificate applicants, only in cases where more applicants apply than the minimum number of licenses or certificates as calculated by this section, which scoring shall be limited to an analysis of the following….
In ranking applicants and awarding licenses and certificates, the department may consult or contract with other public agencies with relevant expertise regarding these factors. The department shall lift or ease any limit on the number of licensees or certificate holders in order to meet the demand for marijuana for medical use by qualifying patients.

This last part is important because it contains the functional criteria for raising the limit on marijuana licensees above the minimums set by Article XIV — “in order to meet the demand for marijuana for medical use…”

This means that to justify allowing more commercial marijuana licenses than the minimums, the Department has to make a determination that the demand for “marijuana for medical use” is not being met by the initial allocation of licensees. On a functional basis, this presents two significant problems:

1) this determination can only be really made after all licenses are certified and operational (time frame ~ at least a year after the program opens)

2) this requirement puts DHSS in the position of functionally deciding what the market quantity & price of medical marijuana should be (central control of the market)

The drafters of Article XIV intended for these limits to exist. In late 2018, New Approach Missouri campaign consultant Jack Cardetti participated in an open forum about medical marijuana initiatives sponsored by the University of Kansas City Young Republicans. At about the 1:02:00 mark in this video, Mr. Cardetti justifies the cap on marijuana licenses in Amendment 2: “Why put a limit at all on there? …It’s because of what’s called the Cole Memo from the USDOJ…If you follow these different rules and regulations we won’t go after you…one of these is oversupply. They don’t want more being produced than is going to be legally consumed…There has to be some kind of cap…”. This is an astonishing claim coming from a campaign that is directly challenging the federal prohibition on marijuana after at least two other states (Oregon and Oklahoma) had established free market commercial marijuana licensing programs.

To summarize, Article XIV establishes commercial marijuana licensing minimums, then creates an elaborate and onerous ranking system, and finally restricts the allocation of further licenses to arbitrary determinations that can’t happen until the program has been in operation for a substantial amount of time.

Related Posts

We at the Crossing Paths Political Action Committee are working hard to remove these corrupt and unAmerican restrictions on economic opportunity from the Missouri Constitution. For more information, email info@crossingpathspac.com.

Republished with permission from Crossing Paths PAC.

The post The (Unjust) Constitutional Basis for Restrictions on Marijuana Licenses in Missouri appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/the-unjust-constitutional-basis-for-restrictions-on-marijuana-licenses-in-missouri/feed/ 7 112279 The War on Drugs: When Progress Comes Too Late https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/the-war-on-drugs-when-progress-comes-too-late/ https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/the-war-on-drugs-when-progress-comes-too-late/#comments Tue, 17 Sep 2019 21:15:29 +0000 https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/?p=105505 While marijuana plants grow to be sold in many states legally, offenders that were found to be growing it a bit too soon are wasting away in prison. One of those is a 79-year-old farmer who is currently serving time in federal prison for growing pot. In March of 2012, law...

The post The War on Drugs: When Progress Comes Too Late appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> While marijuana plants grow to be sold in many states legally, offenders that were found to be growing it a bit too soon are wasting away in prison. One of those is a 79-year-old farmer who is currently serving time in federal prison for growing pot.

In March of 2012, law enforcement came to Charles White’s farm in rural Polk County because of an identity theft case. Instead of finding evidence related to their initial investigation, the agents became suspicious that marijuana was being grown on the premises. Upon further investigation, they found over 1,000 marijuana crops growing on White’s land.

White’s defense team first argued that authorities entered his property under false pretenses and they did not have proper authority to search his property when they found the illegal substance. But they eventually acquiesced and he pleaded guilty to growing marijuana. White was a previous offender of marijuana laws and therefore, in 2017, he was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his felony offense.

White Appeals to the First Steps Act

In December of 2018, the First Steps Act passed the US Senate after being approved by the House in May. It then made its final lunge to a welcoming White House where it was gladly signed by the president. One of the benefits of the law was to extend early release to elderly, ailing, and low-risk prisoners.

In January of 2019, White’s lawyers filed for a compassionate early release from prison. They cited his legal blindness and worsening macular degeneration in his eyes as a reason for early release. White said his vision problems made it difficult to navigate hallways and stairs amidst “an aggressive prison population”.

The prosecution countered that White did not prove “extraordinary and rare” circumstances that merited early release. The judge agreed and denied White’s appeal for release.

The judge claimed a few reasons for rejecting White’s motion. First, White needed to serve at least half his sentence to be eligible. The judge added that he doesn’t believe White’s health has reached the severity needed for a “compassionate release”.

As of July, White was still being held in a federal prison at Leavenworth, Kansas. He was hopeful that he would be moved to a medical facility soon that would meet his needs better.

Progress Depends on the Unreasonable Man

Our society, individual states, and country are liberalizing laws regarding marijuana. But are we forgetting the Americans who didn’t wait for society to progress? Steps were taken to reform the justice and legal system to benefit those like Charles White, but it might be too late for him.

You can sign a Change.org petition for Charles White here.

“One may well ask: ‘How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?’ The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all.”
 – Martin Luther King, Jr.

The post The War on Drugs: When Progress Comes Too Late appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/the-war-on-drugs-when-progress-comes-too-late/feed/ 27 105505 American Tyranny Is Real: The War on Liberty Gets Personal https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/american-tyranny-is-real-the-war-on-liberty-gets-personal/ https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/american-tyranny-is-real-the-war-on-liberty-gets-personal/#comments Tue, 18 Jun 2019 14:55:20 +0000 https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/?p=102367 By Mike Maharrey I’ve been fighting federal overreach for years, but now it’s getting personal! I’ve been working with the Tenth Amendment Center for almost a decade. That’s a lot of activism. It should be pretty obvious that I am passionate about the work and that I believe deeply in...

The post American Tyranny Is Real: The War on Liberty Gets Personal appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> By Mike Maharrey

I’ve been fighting federal overreach for years, but now it’s getting personal!

I’ve been working with the Tenth Amendment Center for almost a decade. That’s a lot of activism.

It should be pretty obvious that I am passionate about the work and that I believe deeply in the principles. You don’t work for an organization like the TAC for fame and fortune. You have to really believe in what you’re fighting for to stay in the fight. To call it wearisome at times would be an understatement.

But I have to be honest; most of the time I’m fighting for an abstraction. We talk about things like “liberty” and “freedom” and “limited government.” I believe deeply in these concepts, but most of the time, they are just that — concepts. Despite tremendous government overreach, I can still go through most days without being consciously aware of it. Of course, I catch glimpses of the beast, like when I’m standing in line in my socks at the airport waiting to get felt up. Or when I write those checks to the IRS. Or when I don’t get to keep my doctor as promised. But by and large, we live under a soft tyranny. It’s like a fish in water. He isn’t really aware that he’s wet.

But this week, the tyranny got really personal.

A friend and fellow liberty activist was indicted on federal marijuana charges. He could face 10 years to life in prison. You read that right.

Life.

For a plant.

I don’t care what you might think about weed; there is no justice in locking a man in a cage for the rest of this life for a plant. I can kill my next door neighbor and not get that much prison time.

Millions of people use marijuana. Many of them use it for medical reasons. Thirty-three states have legalized cannabis for medical use. Ten states have legalized it for general adult use. And yet the feds continue to maintain complete prohibition.

I have to pause here and emphasize that the federal government lacks the constitutional authority to prohibit a plant. If you doubt me, ask yourself why it required a constitutional amendment to institute alcohol prohibition.

But it goes beyond that. The real question is who owns you? If you own yourself, then government bureaucrats don’t have the right to dictate what you can and cannot put in your body. And they don’t have the right to lock people in cages who chose to put a substance that other people disapprove of into their bodies. And they don’t have the right to lock people in cages who engage in voluntary exchanges involving such substances.

Anybody who thinks otherwise doesn’t believe in self-ownership. Somebody else owns you. That means you’re a slave.

It’s as simple as that.

Seeing somebody I know caught up in the system has made the idea of tyranny very real to me. Maybe in some ways, it’s a good reminder. Because I’ll tell you this — liberty isn’t an abstraction to me right now.

You can hear more on this subject in my latest Thoughts from Maharrey Head podcast.

You can help fight this injustice by donating to this liberty activist’s legal fund HERE.

Michael Maharrey [send him email] is the Communications Director for the Tenth Amendment Center. He proudly resides in the original home of the Principles of ’98 – Kentucky. See his blog archive here and his article archive here. He is the author of the book, Our Last Hope: Rediscovering the Lost Path to Liberty. You can visit his personal website at MichaelMaharrey.com and like him on Facebook HERE

The post American Tyranny Is Real: The War on Liberty Gets Personal appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/american-tyranny-is-real-the-war-on-liberty-gets-personal/feed/ 29 102367 Green Rush: How Hemp Is Growing the Economy and Transforming American Farming https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/green-rush-how-hemp-is-growing-the-economy-and-transforming-american-farming/ https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/green-rush-how-hemp-is-growing-the-economy-and-transforming-american-farming/#comments Fri, 07 Jun 2019 21:21:55 +0000 https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/?p=102099 As federal marijuana prohibition slowly fades away into the depths of history, the burgeoning legal recreational cannabis market is poised to usher in a green rush for the US economy. And while many are excited about the fiscal implications of this entirely new economic sector, and rightfully so, there is...

The post Green Rush: How Hemp Is Growing the Economy and Transforming American Farming appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> As federal marijuana prohibition slowly fades away into the depths of history, the burgeoning legal recreational cannabis market is poised to usher in a green rush for the US economy. And while many are excited about the fiscal implications of this entirely new economic sector, and rightfully so, there is another “green” market on the rise that isn’t getting quite as much attention.

When Congress passed the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, also known as the Farm Bill, last December, it effectively ended the federal government’s prohibition of industrial hemp. And just six months after its passage and subsequent declassification as a federally controlled substance, hemp is already proving itself to be a lucrative crop for farmers, consumers, and job-seekers. In fact, hemp has so much potential economically speaking, it leads many to wonder why it was ever illegal in the first place.

If you ask any given passerby on the street what hemp is, it’s likely they will be able to tell you it has something to do with the cannabis plant. However, many might not be able to expand on what exactly sets hemp apart from the marijuana that is typically smoked or consumed to induce feelings of euphoria.

To be sure, while hemp and marijuana are both derivatives of the cannabis plant, they are very different. Its most significant difference lies in the fact that hemp has drastically less tetrahydrocannabinol—or THC, as it is most commonly referred to—than marijuana. While this has always been the case, it was not until the passage of the Farm Bill last year that the legal definition of hemp was officially set to be defined as a part of the cannabis plant that contains less than 0.3 percent THC.

For those unfamiliar, THC is the chemical responsible for inducing the “high” commonly associated with “smoking weed.” But since hemp has such low traces of THC, you would have to smoke ungodly amounts before inducing the same high as you would from, say, smoking a joint. In fact, while it is often said in jest that a person would need to smoke a joint the size of a telephone pole in order to get high on hemp, this is actually not that far off from the truth.

Yet, even though hemp does not contain the same psychoactive compounds as marijuana, the government still lumped it into the same category as heroin and LSD, successfully preventing it from becoming a cash crop for farmers and a commodity for consumers. However, now that there are no longer legal ramifications for its cultivation, the floodgates have been opened for this new market.

Some might be shocked to learn that hemp is one of the earliest domesticated plants and has been cultivated by humans for more than 12,000 years. It is also currently used in some 25,000 products from automotive parts, rope, furniture, textiles, food, beverages, beauty products, and construction supplies. Hemp also contains cannabidiol, or CBD, which has been effective in combating insomnia, anxiety, chronic pain, and other ailments and has been a major reason for the hemp boom currently being experienced throughout the country.

In fact, CBD has become such a popular product in the health and wellness world that one hemp farmer in California even recalls,

I’ve had people come up to me and shake my hand for growing hemp because of the CBD, because they truly think it is going to help them.

While hemp just got the official green light from Congress, the 2014 farm bill allowed farmers to “pilot” the cultivation of hemp so long as they worked with and got approval from local state agricultural programs. This gave many farmers the opportunity to experiment with the cultivation of hemp to see if it was worth their time and money.

In that time, the legal CBD market has taken off, with just about everyone and their mom getting into the business. Google “CBD oil,” and you will be overwhelmed with options. Currently, the CBD market is a multi-million dollar industry but is soon expected to be a multi-billion dollar one.

“The demand for CBD products is exploding. At the moment the demand is far outpacing the supply,” says Heather Darby, a hemp expert at the University of Vermont Extension. “Farmers and businesses are scaling up production quickly and moving from producing an acre to producing 50 acres.”

To put this number into perspective, according to the Brightfield Group, a Chicago-based cannabis research firm, one acre of land can house anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 hemp plants, which can generate $40,000-$50,000 for producers. Looking at the bigger picture, the Brightfield Group also estimates that the legal CBD market could be worth $20 billion by the year 2022.

Vote Hemp’s 2017 US Hemp Crop Report found that 23,343 acres of hemp were cultivated in America that year alone. In 2018, that number rose to 77,000 acres. Now that hemp is legal nationwide, this number is expected to skyrocket during 2019.

In rural parts of the country where farmland is plentiful, this presents a huge opportunity for the agricultural sectors. In Massachusetts alone, for example, there are over half a million acres of farmland. And for many farmers, growing hemp has become far more beneficial than growing traditional crops like corn, soybeans, and even tobacco.

In Kentucky, Brent Cornett, a farmer and member of the hemp grower’s group Atalo Holdings, explained how over the last three years he has been increasingly replacing his tobacco crops with hemp. “There’s been plenty of challenges with a new crop, but as of today, a mediocre hemp crop is yielding a better return than an excellent tobacco crop,” Cornett explained. Cornett has also increased his hemp cultivation from 20 acres in 2016 to 85 acres in 2018.

Another farmer in Northern California, Ben Roberti, has also been experimenting with the cultivation of hemp. Traditionally a dairy and alfalfa farmer, Roberti has been worried that he has to diversify his crops if he wants to stay in business.

So many of the dairies are shutting down on the west coast that we just don’t view alfalfa as a commodity for the future.

In addition hemp is one of the easiest plants to grow. It can grow almost anywhere and no need to obtain any special farming equipment. You could sow them in pots or growing kits and, then, transplanting into the ground.  But don’t forget that that cannabis plants need safe, healthy root system, so choosing the right container is important.  If you are interested in growing hemp indoors click for more about growing kits.

While hemp requires less water on average than a tobacco plant, it is harder to harvest. This is largely due to the fact that the harvesting process just hasn’t been perfected yet. According to Roberti, it is labor-intensive since no commercial machinery exists yet to aid in the process. However, if the industry continues to grow at this rate, innovation is inevitable.

Atalo Holdings CEO William Hilliard commented on this agricultural boom, saying,

The hemp CBD industry is growing exponentially and presents a real opportunity for rural economic development, with tremendous enthusiasm from consumers.

With consumers wanting more hemp products, there are more opportunities for entrepreneurs to find new and innovative ways to turn the crop into various consumer goods. And with more hemp-based products on the market, there are now more opportunities for new jobs to be created in the economy.

“Job creation is going to happen in every economic bracket,” said Erica McBride Stark, executive director of the National Hemp Association. “The hemp industry will create high-skilled management jobs, labor-type jobs and everything in between. It’s going to touch all of society.”

While the cultivating, processing, and manufacturing of hemp are the most obvious areas where new jobs can be created, this is just the tip of the iceberg. With new products and companies popping up as a result, the industry will have a pressing need for lawyers, compliance officers, accountants, IT specialists, marketing specialists, retail employees, transporters, researchers, CEOs, CFOs, and everything in between.

HempStaff, a job recruiting site for the cannabis industry, has seen job openings double over the last year, now accounting for 16 percent of its business. Indeed, a more general employment search engine, has seen a sharp rise in job openings in the legal hemp sector. It’s hard to find any downsides to the burgeoning hemp market. The real question is: why did it take so long to get here?

Like many sectors, the lack of growth and innovation in the hemp sector is a result of government regulation. While the cultivation of hemp in America can be traced back to the time of the founding of the Jamestown Colony, in 1937 the crop garnered a bad reputation after it was labeled “the evil weed.”

Due to its relationship to marijuana, hemp was lumped into the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which passed a $100 transfer tax on its sale, making it too expensive to cultivate. However, the reasons behind this tax had more to do with protectionism, specifically involving William Randolph Hearst and the Dupont company.

As explained by Global Hemp:

Those thought to gain the most were Hearst who owned large timber holdings which feed the paper industry. DuPont who dominated the petrochemical market, which manufactured plastics, paints, and other products of fossil fuels and the Secretary of the Treasury and owner of Gulf oil Andrew Mellon who pushed legislation through Congress giving tax breaks to oil companies. The Conspiracy was against hemp, it threaten[ed] certain vested financial and industrial interest especially those in the paper and petrochemical industries.

During World War II, the government made an exception since hemp was a great source for making rope and other textiles, allowing farmers to grow it legally once more. However, as soon as the war ended, so did the government’s leniency.

It may have taken nearly eight decades, but now that federal prohibition is coming to an end and more information about hemp is available, more people are understanding the significant role this part of the cannabis plant can play in stimulating economic growth all across the country.

Brittany Hunter

Brittany Hunter

Brittany is a senior writer for the Foundation for Economic Education. Additionally, she is a co-host of Beltway Banthas, a podcast that combines Star Wars and politics. Brittany believes that the most effective way to promote individual liberty and free-market economics is by telling timely stories that highlight timeless principles.

This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.

 

The post Green Rush: How Hemp Is Growing the Economy and Transforming American Farming appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/green-rush-how-hemp-is-growing-the-economy-and-transforming-american-farming/feed/ 4 102099 Trudeau’s Failed Cannabis Experiment: The Black Market Prevails https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/cannabis-experiment/ https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/cannabis-experiment/#comments Tue, 23 Apr 2019 13:01:27 +0000 https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/?p=100574 By Dries Van Thielen According to new government statistics, Canadian cannabis consumers would rather turn  to their neighborhood dealer than visit the recently legalized marijuana dispensaries. Six months after legalization, The Guardian calls Prime Minister Trudeau’s experiment “struggling to get off the ground”. The solution? Lifting the government’s involvement In...

The post Trudeau’s Failed Cannabis Experiment: The Black Market Prevails appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> By Dries Van Thielen

According to new government statistics, Canadian cannabis consumers would rather turn  to their neighborhood dealer than visit the recently legalized marijuana dispensaries. Six months after legalization, The Guardian calls Prime Minister Trudeau’s experiment “struggling to get off the ground”. The solution? Lifting the government’s involvement In the distribution of the cash crop.  

The legal purchase of cannabis reached 2 billion Canadian dollars in early 2019, whereas the black market accounted for 5 billion CAD. Also, 79% of all cannabis products were sold on the black market.

Justin Trudeau’s goal to eliminate the marijuana black market through legalization is falling flat. However, we cannot expect to see a sudden switch in consumers’ behavior.

Moreover, the new industry seems to be meeting some roadblocks along the way.

Even though inefficient operations might cause problems within the supply chain as one critic suggests, the government involvement within this industry is far more damaging.

Price Control

When Trudeau announced government-led decriminalization in 2017, we already pondered whether it was a good idea to regulate the cannabis market by setting prices and distributing licenses.

When the government is involved in the production of a commodity through price control, shortages tend to rise. Take the recent food shortages in Venezuela as an extreme example.

The same principle holds up for Canada’s cannabis consumption.

According to the Toronto Star, the legal dispensaries are unable to keep track with the demand for the raw product, cannabis, while oftentimes remaining overstocked on subsidiaries (such as cannabis oils) and side products.

Competition vs Arbitrary Prices

Since Ottowa sets an arbitrary, monopolized price for legal cannabis, free market regulators (competition between companies, reduction in production cost) do not determine the price for legal cannabis.

However, black market prices are determined by the free market.

Should it be of any surprise that black market cannabis is 36% cheaper than its legalized counterpart?

Loyalty Over Legality

Canadian consumers described the cannabis available in dispensaries as “dry” and “untasteful”. Also, it contains less than 20% THC.

Legal cannabis does not meet the quality that can be found on the streets.

Furthermore, loyalty is big factor why consumers still visit their neighborhood dealer.

Canopy Growth Corporation

Is there no one benefitting from marijuana decriminalization?

Surely there is one.

Murray Rothbard already predicted that government regulations favor big business and large enterprises.

The Canadian Canopy Growth Corp., Canada’s largest legal marijuana producer, hit a 98,73% one year return on April 21, while also leaving its mark on the  American market with the possible acquisition of Acreage Holdings Inc. a deal worth 3.4 billion CAD and said to be designed to create a global powerhouse in the marijuana industry.

If the Canadian government really wants to eliminate the black market, they should no longer be involved in the production of cannabis.

The post Trudeau’s Failed Cannabis Experiment: The Black Market Prevails appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/cannabis-experiment/feed/ 3 100574 Nearly A Third Of Smokers Will Opt For Black Market Marijuana After California Legalization https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/nearly-third-smokers-will-opt-black-market-marijuana-california-legalization/ https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/nearly-third-smokers-will-opt-black-market-marijuana-california-legalization/#comments Mon, 12 Jun 2017 17:42:59 +0000 http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/?p=79463 LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Steve Birr Recreational marijuana legalization promises to rake in more than $5 billion for California in 2018, but nearly one-third of smokers will continue buying black market weed. A new study from the University of California Agricultural Issues Center shows taxes and red tape surrounding...

The post Nearly A Third Of Smokers Will Opt For Black Market Marijuana After California Legalization appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST:

By Steve Birr

Recreational marijuana legalization promises to rake in more than $5 billion for California in 2018, but nearly one-third of smokers will continue buying black market weed.

A new study from the University of California Agricultural Issues Center shows taxes and red tape surrounding the state’s burgeoning recreational market will dissuade some smokers from initially joining in. They estimate 29 percent of current California smokers will opt for illicit cannabis to avoid the new regulations and 15 percent retail tax coming in January, reports Los Angeles Times.

Officials are still crafting the legal framework that will govern marijuana sales, including who will be granted licenses for growing, testing, transporting and selling the plant.

“It’s going to take some time,” Lori Ajax, director of the state Bureau of Marijuana Control, told Los Angeles Times. “While it’s unlikely that everyone will come into the regulated market on Day One, we plan to continue working with stakeholders as we move forward to increase participation over time.”

Researchers conducting the study estimate California’s legalized market will be worth more than $5 billion. Medical marijuana made up $2 billion of cannabis sales in 2016, while illegal sales accounted for $5.7 billion. Officials expect medical sales to plummet to $600 million once users have access that does not require a medical card.

“Revenues for medical cannabis in Washington state, for instance, fell by one-third in the first year after the legal adult-use cannabis system took effect, and by more subsequently,” researchers said in the study, according to Los Angeles Times. “We projected that when legally allowed, slightly more than half of the demand currently in the illegal adult-use segment will quickly move to the legal adult-use segment to avoid the inconvenience, stigma and legal risks of buying from an unlicensed seller.”

Despite the likelihood some smokers will stay in the black market to get their marijuana, legal recreational sales are expected to account for 61.5 percent of overall sales in California in 2018.

Follow Steve on Twitter
Click here for reuse options!
Copyright 2017 Daily Caller News Foundation
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

WATCH TLR’S LATEST VIDEO:

The post Nearly A Third Of Smokers Will Opt For Black Market Marijuana After California Legalization appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/nearly-third-smokers-will-opt-black-market-marijuana-california-legalization/feed/ 5 79463 Weed Is A Cancer Cell Destroyer, Study Finds https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/weed-cancer-cell-destroyer-study-finds/ https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/weed-cancer-cell-destroyer-study-finds/#comments Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:44:07 +0000 http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/?p=79201 LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST: By Steve Birr Researchers in London found compounds extracted from marijuana combined with chemotherapy treatment helps target and kill cancer cells. A study out of the University of London released in June found tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), derived from cannabis, boosts the effectiveness of chemotherapy...

The post Weed Is A Cancer Cell Destroyer, Study Finds appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> LISTEN TO TLR’S LATEST PODCAST:

By Steve Birr

Researchers in London found compounds extracted from marijuana combined with chemotherapy treatment helps target and kill cancer cells.

A study out of the University of London released in June found tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), derived from cannabis, boosts the effectiveness of chemotherapy in cancer treatment. The order of the treatment is crucial according to researchers, who said administering cannabinoids after chemotherapy killed cancer blood cells at an accelerated rate, reports WQAD.

The treatment does not work if the marijuana is smoked by the patient. The compounds must be extracted and purified, then taken orally.

“So smoking marijuana will not have a similar effect,” Dr. Wai Liu, lead author of the study, said in a statement. “But cannabinoids are a very exciting prospect in oncology, and studies such as ours serve to establish the best ways that they should be used to maximized as a therapeutic effect.”

They stress more research is needed to confirm the efficacy of treatments combining cannabinoids and chemotherapy. The researchers say the treatment proved particularly effective at targeting cancer related to the brain.

The study comes amid other emerging research showing cannabis treatments can aid patients suffering from a number of ailments, including many conditions linked to the brain. A recent study from the University of Bonn in Germany suggests THC may halt and even roll back the aging process by boosting the presence of cannabinoids in the brain, which naturally decline as the brain ages.

Scientists in the U.S. attempting to study the effects of marijuana on various ailments lament the continued roadblocks to federally funded cannabis research. The designation of marijuana as a Schedule I substance alongside deadly narcotics means that the U.S. government does not recognize any medicinal benefit to marijuana.

Follow Steve on Twitter
Click here for reuse options!
Copyright 2017 Daily Caller News Foundation
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

WATCH TLR’S LATEST VIDEO:

The post Weed Is A Cancer Cell Destroyer, Study Finds appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/weed-cancer-cell-destroyer-study-finds/feed/ 26 79201