INDEPENDENCE ADDENDUM

I forgot to mention my favorite part of my Fourth of July celebration. At 11:00 pm the air was still thick enough to squeeze in your hand and the town was unnaturally quiet. At 11:11 I opened up all my doors, blasted the blues through my speakers and in my own personal act of independence sat on my front stoop and smoked a big fat joint. As I took the last hit I wondered why on earth such an innocuous activity should be illegal. Haven't heard a good reason yet.

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ACTING ON CONVICTION

Thankfully there's still hope of restoring sanity to drug policy within the system. Judge Richard Savell in Fairbanks Alaska rendered a courageous decision upholding the Alaskan constitutional right to privacy and dismissing marijuana possession charges against a local man. I hope the legal minds in this movement can find a way to apply this precedent on the federal level. That's the bottom line - our bodies - our homes - our business.

NOBODY WINS

Speaking of constitutional rights, The Denver Post ran a good opinion piece by Michael Holzmeister on the damage caused by this insane War On Users of Natural Drugs. The last paragraphs sum it up for me:

If you're afraid that legalizing drugs would make them more available than they are now, think again. Drugs are easy to find - ask any drug warrior - yet the vast majority of people choose not to buy them. There are better ways to spend time and money.

The War on Drugs is a resounding failure. Drugs still flow freely. The War on Drugs has had some success, however. It has successfully battled the Constitution and helped to quash our freedom.

FROM THE MOUTH OF SMELLYASS

Quote of the day comes from SmellyAss a/k/a SmellyTheAss. Smelly is a resident troll on the GNN forum. His avatar is a nerdy kid sneering and giving you the finger.

Now I don't fully understand how one is defined as a troll but they generally behave badly and have nothing of substance to say. Mostly they try to derail the thread with childish insults and post lots of irrelevant graphics. Smelly (who I'm beginning to believe is actually another alter-ego of Mr. Special a/k/a DashRiprock et al.) was especially well-behaved this weekend. When he's not throwing tantrums he apparently has something insightful to say:

But those are just my opinions. The right way is to return the decision to the individual States, and return federal law enforcement agencies to their proper task of coordinating and augmenting State and local law enforcement, and providing specific services at the federal level. Then, if some states wanted it illegal, they could make it illegal, and the marketplace of ideas among the States would determine the way that works best. I'd rather our government quibble State to State in the open, rather than committee member to committee member behind closed doors.

Just goes to show that you can't judge a troll by his avatar. Last word is yours today Smelly.