Just Say Know Weekly News: 3/28/08

[Courtesy of Just Say Know] 

Thank you if you were among the many compassionate people that contacted either the prison warden or the Governor of Nebraska on behalf of ten year old Jayci Yaeger. Last week we asked all our readers nationwide to contact the authorities on behalf of this most innocent victim of the drug war. It was Jayci’s dying request that her dad be allowed to be with her when she passed away. Jayci had terminal brain cancer and her dad is very close to being released from prison on drug charges. We’re glad to report that her dad was allowed to spend some time with her Wednesday and we appreciate the compassion of the authorities for allowing the family this time. It was reported that public outcry was the determining factor in the decision. We’re deeply saddened to have to tell you that Jayci passed away early this morning. Our prayers are with the family in this time of grief. You can read about her visit with her dad here: http://www.ketv.com/news/15721550/detail.html and you can read about Jayci’s passing here: http://www.kolnkgin.com/news/headlines/17080656.html 

JUST SAY KNOW appreciates and commends the efforts of the drug policy reform organizations below and we thank them for their contributions to our drug policy reform work. Please visit their websites and support them to the best of your ability. 

Students for Sensible Drug Policy is an international grassroots network of students who are concerned about the impact drug abuse has on our communities, but who also know that the War on Drugs is failing our generation and our society. SSDP mobilizes and empowers young people to participate in the political process, pushing for sensible policies to achieve a safer and more just future, while fighting back against counterproductive Drug War policies, particularly those that directly harm students and youth. 

Stop the Drug War (DRCNet) calls for an end to drug prohibition (e.g. some form of legalization), and its replacement with some sensible framework in which drugs can be regulated and controlled instead. Founded in 1993 by executive director David Borden, DRCNet has from the beginning called unambiguously for an end to prohibition; we are the largest "full-purpose" national membership organization with a wide range of programs to hold that position. 

Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. NORML: Since its founding in 1970, NORML has provided a voice in the public policy debate for those Americans who oppose marijuana prohibition and favor an end to the practice of arresting marijuana smokers. Email: [email protected] Drug Truth Network is a media production organization, based at KPFT Radio Houston, TX. Cultural Baggage, hosted by Dean Becker, is the only nationally distributed radio program focused on discussing the war on drugs. Dean produces 9 radio shows each week about the harms of the drug war. Their shows are broadcast on more than 50 affiliates in the US and Canada. Call your favorite radio station and ask them to include these innovative radio programs. SAFER (Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation): SAFER is working with students, organizations and other individuals around the country and abroad to spread the message that marijuana is safer than alcohol and should be treated as such. 

FULLY INFORMED JURY ASSOCIATION (FIJA): Click here to learn about a powerful tool most people don’t know about that can be used to shut down prosecution of non-violent “drug offenders” on a case by case basis. It’s called Juror Nullification. 

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Please pass this message on to ALL your contacts and ask them to join our mailing list using the form on our website. THANK YOU! We never share email addresses from our mailing list with anyone. Just Say Know works on your behalf toward drug policy reform, preserving and re-instating your legal rights. Since cannabis “offences” account for approximately half of all drug arrests, we believe taking away the ability of criminals to profit from cannabis will be an important initial step in drug policy reform. How? Just like it was done with alcohol, remove the prohibition and regulate legal adult use, especially the legal ability to grow your own. As soon as alcohol prohibition ended, the crime and violence caused by alcohol prohibition ended. The year alcohol prohibition was repealed violent crime fell by sixty five percent. Drug policy and enforcement tactics are out of control and removing your Constitutional rights at an alarming rate.  Your financial contributions are greatly appreciated. If you can afford it, please donate today. To make a donation reply to this message with “donation” in the subject line and an associate will contact you by return email. If you wish to remain anonymous you can. Donations of any size are greatly appreciated. Thank you for your consideration. Don’t hesitate to contact us by replying to this message, we appreciate your comments, questions and concerns. Together we will make a difference!  The drug war is being used as an excuse to remove your Constitutional rights, steal your property, waste 69 billion tax dollars per year and a long list of other harms to citizens and society. There’s a mountain of evidence supporting the need for policy reform that will make citizens, their families, their livelihood and their property more secure. The right; to freedom of religion, free speech, a free press, to keep and bear arms, to be secure in your person, house, papers and effects against unreasonable search and seizure, to life, liberty and property, to be protected from having your property taken by the government without due process of law and without just compensation, to confront the witnesses against you, to be protected from excessive bail, excessive fines, cruel and unusual punishment, to vote and other Constitutional rights have been denied to millions of Americans in the name of the drug war.

Tell your friends about the "Enough is Enough" petition to stop the reckless overuse of SWAT tactics and save the lives of civilians and police alike. This petition is sponsored by: StoptheDrugWar.org Click here for details. 

Feature Story:The Right To bear Arms… infringed by the drug war

So far there isn’t much known about the Supreme Court’s stance on the right to bare arms. A ruling is not expected for several months. Preliminary reports seem to indicate the high Court holds the opinion that an individual’s right to own guns is protected by the Constitution. We don’t understand how there could be any confusion at all. Some argue the 2^nd amendment says only a government militia has the right to bear arms not individual citizens. Here’s the amendment: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of “THE PEOPLE” to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed”. We don’t know how the founding father’s could have made it any more plain. They wanted to insure the people were able to defend themselves against tyranny. The 2^nd amendment is not a right for hunters only or only for people that live in rural areas. It’s a right to protect yourself and your country against those who would take away the freedoms given under the Constitution. This right is one of the most important rights protecting our freedom. As long as an invader, or a tyrant who intends to try and take over our country knows the people have the ability to fight back we’re a lot safer. The instant that right is infringed “we the people” are reduced to an easily conquered defenseless mass. Anyone involved in the drug policy reform movement should easily recognize the futility and the harms that always accompany prohibition. Gun prohibition would be disastrous and devastating. The only people that would be unarmed would be those who’d blindly follow gun prohibition. Have you noticed that powerful drug cartels now control almost ALL commerce connected with “illegal drugs”? Do you really think criminals are going to give up their guns? So where does that leave the “law abiding citizens” if we give up our right to own guns?... Defenseless, that’s where. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people and anyone who uses a gun in the commission of a real crime should be punished accordingly. Criminalizing gun owners when they are caught for possession or even sale of drugs just because they are a legal gun owner is an absolute miscarriage of justice. Everyone should feel much safer knowing ALL our mentally competent law abiding neighbors have guns and know how to use them. When a rape, murder or other violent crime is stopped by a law abiding armed citizen, have you ever heard anyone say they wish the criminal had been able to accomplish the crime? Would you rather see the victim of an attempted rape on the news explaining why she shot her assailant, or a picture of her dead body with her panty hose that she was strangled with wrapped around her neck? Many countries that outlaw guns have murder and violent crime rates much higher than the US. The drug war has been used as an excuse to infringe on this right to an almost unbelievable extent. First the government created a danger through the prohibition of drugs, now that the gangsters are shooting it out in our streets over the vast drug profits they seek, our government responds by enacting law after law restricting our right to bear arms and protect ourselves from the gangsters the government, through prohibition, put in business. When a person is caught with a legal gun in their home or otherwise under their legal control and “illegal drugs” are in their possession, that gun should not be presumed to be anything other than a legal tool to protect the person, which is exactly what it is in most cases. Prohibitionists are using a person’s legal right to own a gun as an excuse to inflict mandatory prison sentences that were intended only for felons using firearms to perpetrate crimes. This is exactly the kind of ridiculous snowball effect prohibition always has. More and more laws are passed trying to enforce unenforceable policy and more and more Constitutional rights are removed or damaged along the way. The idea that a drug user or any other sound minded citizen of adult age should be required to expose their self to violence by being unarmed is ridiculous. We’re not suggesting that people should act irresponsibly with drugs and firearms but we certainly don’t think all drug users should be expected to give up their right to bear arms. As is usually the case, common sense should be used. A gun should be looked at in the case of any drug use just as automobiles and other dangerous machinery are considered in the case of mind altering prescription drugs. “ Don’t drive or operate dangerous machinery until you see how any drug effects you”. Do we really need to include a notice that firearms are dangerous machinery? Despite the propaganda promoted by prohibitionists, it is a rare occurrence indeed when a person uses drugs and the drugs cause them to be deadly or even dangerous with firearms. Most exercise due caution and the ones that don’t are real criminals that need to be properly dealt with. The vast majority of both prescription and “illegal” drug users are responsible. Don’t believe for a second that giving up your Constitutional rights will make you safer. Our founding fathers had a much better perspective on tyranny than we do, they lived it. The rights they gave us have been attacked at every opportunity by well meaning but misguided people. Drug and alcohol prohibition are prime examples of what happens when you infringe on the Constitution. Give up your rights and you become a slave, end of story. Take a good look at the long list of rights that have been damaged by drug prohibition. This will never end unless “we the people” take a firm stand. Whether you like it or not you are a slave because of drug prohibition. Any time the government or anyone else can manage your personal activities when those activities are not harmful to you, others or society, what else would you call it? This is not something government should be involved in and certainly our founding fathers are spinning in their graves over our lack of vigilance to protect the rights they so carefully bestowed. Call your local, state and federal representatives and let them know you will not accept tyranny and you will not give up your Constitutional rights. Be sure to tell them you want the rights back that have already been damaged or removed. Ask them to enforce the Constitution and stop infringing on your rights. If you don’t take action and take it right now you will soon lose the right to protect yourself.

----------------------- Visit our website and click “Learn About Drug War Victims” and “More Drug War Victims” on our home page and read about some of the human tragedies caused by drug prohibition, many of the people needlessly harmed in those stories are innocent of any wrong doing. Its time to take action! Contact your elected representatives and tell them to end the drug war. You can look up your representatives by visiting our website and clicking “Tools” in the site map.

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Be sure to click “Issues Need Your Immediate Attention” on our home page and use the links to locate and email your federal representatives about the Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment which will prohibit the Department of Justice from using any funds to interfere with state medical marijuana laws.

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This country is still governed by the people but if you sit around waiting on someone else, it may be you that ends up losing life, liberty, freedom, property and more, it may be you that gets shot by the government, it may be your children, money, livelihood or property that get taken away. These things don’t just happen to drug users. Thanks to the drug war private property is being confiscated with no evidence and no legal recourse. If you think this is a fairytale or only happens by mistake, or is a rare occurrence go here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/snitch/readings/hidden.html and read what happened to the innocent people mentioned in that story.  "Anyone concerned about the failure of our $69 billion-a-year War on Drugs should watch this 12-minute program. You will meet front line, ranking police officers who give us a devastating report on why it cannot work. It is a must-see for any journalist or public official dealing with this issue."-- Walter Cronkite, commenting on a video produced by “LEAP” Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. We think it’s a must see for every voter in the country too.  If you haven’t seen it yet take a few minutes and view it now using this link: http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php?name=Content&pid=28  You can get a wealth of information by visiting our web site and clicking “Web Links” in the site map. Be sure you ask all your associates to join our weekly mailing list.If you’re using internet explorer web browser use this link:    http://jsknow.angelfire.com/home If you’re using any other web browser use this link:    http://jsknow.angelfire.com/index.html