DEA acting nasty for the neo cons

[donsu]

http://counterpunch.com/gardner07282007.html


Pot Shots
Prohibitionists Attack, Reformers Fundraise


Fierce rollback efforts by the Drug Warriors in California have been complemented by a defeat for reform lobbyists in Congress. Since June there has been a "huge upsurge" in asset-forfeiture cases against medical marijuana providers in the Eastern and Central Districts of California, says attorney Brenda Grantland. In one instance the bank accounts of a dispensary proprietor's daughter -"who had nothing to do with the dispensary," according to Grantland- were seized.

In early July the DEA sent letters to more than 150 Los Angeles area landlords advising that they had rented to cannabis dispensaries. Putting landlords on notice is required under the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000 before the government can seize their property. How many clubs will be evicted remains to be seen -clubs pay much higher rents than other tenants, the chances of the feds moving against any given property owner are slim, and the ensuing lawsuits may be winnable.

DEA raids closed eight Los Angeles dispensaries this week; no arrests were made. Proprietors of dispensaries raided the week before in Bakersfield, Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo, Corona, Riverside, and Palm Springs face federal cultivation-for-sale charges. DEA spokeswoman Sarah Pullen has characterized the raided clubs as "the most egregious traffickers." Meaning they were serving the most people.

-snip-

While the DEA was terrorizing medical-marijuana users in Southern California, Drug Czar John Walters flew into Redding to publicize an eradication program called “Operation Alesia.” It’s named after a battle in 52 BC at which the Roman Empire finally defeated the Gauls. (Walters’s father helped direct “Operation Phoenix” in Vietnam.) Operation Alesia involves 17 agencies, including the California National Guard. The crews arrive in Black Hawk helicopters and the campesinos fade into the forest, resulting in no arrests as of July 18, the date of Walters visit. The Redding Record-Searchlight reported that Walters said “the people who plant and tend the gardens are terrorists who wouldn't hesitate to help other terrorists get into the country with the aim of causing mass casualties. ‘Don't buy drugs. They fund violence and terror,’ he said.”
-snip-
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throw up

[AX10]

1. The DEA is a terrorist organization.

[High Plains]

2. Fuck the DEA. A more useless bunch of goons and thugs...

I can barely imagine. We need to end drug prohibition and make these assholes earn an honest living. And that goes for the prison guards' unions and about half the cops in this country, too.

[AX10]

7. I agree with your post!

:kick:

[Double T]

3. What a friggin' SPIN JOB this is.

The REAL terrorists have nothing to worry about because the 'authorities' spend ALL of their time and resources on absolute BS. Is there ANY sanity in the government?

[HCE SuiGeneris]

4. How many f'n agencies do we now have to persecute American citizenry?

I swear, it would be hard to tell this was a "free" country if you were outside looking in... or, vice-versa I suppose.

[donsu]

8. we are not a free country

nt

[HCE SuiGeneris]

9. My point

exactly. :cry:

[villager]

5. Well, the Republicans should certainly know about the drugs-for-terror link

since they used it so well in the 80's in Central America.

Of course, that has nothing to do with their police state harrassment of medical marijuana.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

6. Last night I watched US vs. John Lennon (link below) and back during

the Vietnam era, things were no different. They tried to Expel John Lennon because of a minor marijuana bust in the UK, and one of the outspoken voices of the war, John Sinclair, was sentenced to 2 years in prison for giving 2 joints to an undercover agent.

Video Online
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1463934&mesg_id=1463934

This is a great documentary for those who lived through the Vietnam era and for those who were either too young or not even born then.

[libertypirate]

10. The DEA has already lost this fight and they just won't acknowledge. /nt

[Turbineguy]

11. Medical Marijuana

it may or may not be a panacea, but "egregious drug traffickers"? How does this compare with those who sell the stuff for recreational use?