I Am Now A Victim of the War on Drugs (UPDATE)
Submitted by rpjayhawk on Mon, 01/30/2012 - 16:12Hello Daily Paul Family,
I wanted to update you on my situation that I posted about last September.
I was arrested in August for 3 felony counts of manufacturing a controlled substance. My green thumb was not appreciated in my home state. I can not divulge all of the details about what happened, because my case is still pending.
I wanted to let you all know that I am now being represented by our state NORML director, Dan Viets. He agreed to a payment plan for representation, which was the only way I could afford him. Thanks to everyone's generous donations, it has REALLY helped. I still owe him a lot of money, so if you still want to donate, you can do it at my blog site ilovegenerationx.com, on the top left side.
Since all this happened, I did lose my home, my car, my job, and my life savings. It has been quite a tough six months. However, I am staying strong, and hopefully will have all of the charges dropped in the coming weeks...followed by a few lawsuits due to 4th and 6th amendment violations (they didn't know they were arresting someone that new the Constitution).
In the meantime, I am collecting signatures for the petition to put Cannabis legalization on the ballot in Missouri this November. The effort is going very well.
Freedom is popular, and I thank you all for your love and support.
Ron Paul 2012!
Love,
Your Sister in Liberty
RPJAYHAWK, aka Alex Reagan
**update**
Thank you! That's all I can say to the kind people who have donated to my legal fund in the past few days. Ron Paul supporters are the best, truly amazing!!!
I hope to be able to repay you all in some way when this is all over.
All my life.....
I've wondered how with nothing but the stroke of a pen, honest, hardworking taxpaying Americans can be turned into felons, stripped of their property and be thrown into a prison.
;-))
Drug War
Our drug policy is wrecking the world. I fear gangs in 250 major cities here in America. We gave them the money to arm themselves. Corruption is in most police forces.
We must admit to ourselves that the drug war does not work.
Put it in the medical arena, instead of the criminal.
Before its to late!!! May get messy, gangs looking for other ways to make money. But the longer we wait, the more they will have to fight us!
Gang members , got on the Memphis police force. They were selling drugs, Protection rackets, and of coarse knew what the police were doing!
1 Mayor in Mexico was taking a bribe of 1 million dollars a month. Can't fight that kind of money. They kill them or bribe them. SAD SAD SAD!!
best of luck dude!!
Thank you for fighting the machine
Government is supposed to protect our freedom, our property, our privacy, not invade it. Ron Paul 2007
ehhh.... I believe your sister in liberty is a LADY!
;0)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WibmcsEGLKo&feature=related
OMG Alex, I cannot imagine what that must be like.
Hope you have a local network of loved ones, family, friends, RVOlutionaries, liberty activists, or even 420 activists who are more directly able to lend you a hand.
be well and stay strong. I know those are only words, but hope a sense of larger circle comforts you in the interim.
I will pray for your health, your wealth, and safety.
Bless you.
Predictions in due Time...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGDisyWkIBM
"Let it not be said that no one cared, that no one objected once it's realized that our liberties and wealth are in jeopardy." - Dr. Ronald Ernest Paul
Rights of Jurors
Cases like this are the reason that everyone needs to become informed about the rights of jurors and then spread the message as passionately as they do the message of Dr. Paul. Everyone needs to got to: WWW.FIJA.ORG. Through the jury system we can protect one another from the abuses of government. That is why is was created 1000 years ago. In a jury trial the judge is a moderator more than anything else. The jurors have the right to judge the law itself as well as the facts. If you disagree with the law, then vote not guilty, the jury is hung and you have saved a fellow human being from prosecution and abuse by the state. You would want someone to do it for you. Spread the word. This is something that we can do today, without a change in the crooks in charge. Here is a video of Dr. Paul's opinion on Jury Nullification: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA4GKG__B-s
We're not in Kansas anymore...
Jury nullification, though it can be done, is no longer lawful. When a jury first enters the jury box, the judge will instruct the jury that they are to decide only upon the facts of the case and that they are not present to judge the law. Any attorney who tries to argue against the law before the jury will be slapped with contempt, likewise for anyone "representing" themself (how can one be PRESENT in court and at the same time be a representation of themself?).
We are now, since around 1938, under private law, Contract law. In a contract the jury cannot decide the contract, only if the contract A) violates the law, or B) if either party violated the contract. Anything else would make contracts meaningless. If 2 parties agreed to transact for a commodity, for example: The parties agree to a price, but then after the contract is made, the price drops significantly. The buyer goes before the jury and tells them its not fair that he has to pay the agreed price because the current price is much lower. He ask the jury to nullify the contract. Hopefully, you can see that the jury has no business nullifying this contract. The only contract the jury can nullify is if they find that the contract violates the law, such as a contract for murder, ect.
What we have today is a system in which everyone is acting in commerce, and the statutes are the terms of the contract. When you violate one of the terms, you are taken into court, a Court of Private Law, Contract Law. As such, the judge informs the jury that they are not there to judge the "law" (contract), but only to find based upon the facts of the case. Did the accused violate the terms of the contract? NOT is the contract just. The People have sent their represenatives to DC to negotiate the terms of the contract IN THEIR STEAD, and have given them authority to do so by voting for them, under the understanding if the one you vote for does not win, then to one who does win will be negotiating for you instead.
Now, you can do as you say and vote not guilty based upon your belief that the law is unjust. But if the judge finds discovers this, there will be a mistrial. If you talk about it in deliberations, word may get back to the judge.
Our Republic was based upon this very thing. Legislators could pass any law they wanted to pass. But the 3rd branch of government, the jury (judicial), decided in truth what was and what was not law.
It was, prior to the change to Private Law, perfectly acceptable for defendant to argue the Law before the jury, and for the jury to acquite based on the law being unjust.
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"Ehhh, What's ups Doc?" B.Bunny "Scwewy Wabbit!"E. Fudd
People's Awareness Coalition: Deprogramming Sequence
The supreme court has ruled
The supreme court has ruled that the judges can lie to the jury about their role and duty, however a judge cannot overturn a not guilty decision but a jury. New Hampshire has introduced laws that require judges to inform juries of their rights.
But refusing the hear the
But refusing the hear the verdict and declaring a mistrial before the verdict is read, can be done by a judge. If a judge suspects that a juror is/has judge the case on the law instead of the facts, or if representation argues the law as unjust and suggests nullification, then the judge may declare mistrial.
New Hampshire has introduced law that the judge is required to inform the jury...the supreme court has ruled that judges can lie...think about that for a minute.
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"Ehhh, What's ups Doc?" B.Bunny "Scwewy Wabbit!"E. Fudd
People's Awareness Coalition: Deprogramming Sequence
I feel your pain
As I too fell victim to the drug war last year. In my case, it was politically motivated...
Gubernatorial candidate's backers face drug charges
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2011/03/25/1684576/gubernatorial-can...
Banning Plants and locking Americans up
That is now what the American dream has become?
Its a plant people!
Why are we trying to arrest gardeners?
Growing a plant is "Manufacturing a Controlled Substance?"
Seriously?
Cannabis is a plant that occurs NATURALLY.
Ecstasy and heroin are MANUFACTURED.
Legal or not, how in the world can growing a plant, ANY plant, be considered to be "manufacturing" something?
Especially considering that poppies are LEGAL to grow as an ornamental plant! (Yes, it IS the same poppy!)
I may be a vegetarian, but I'll defend to the death my right to eat meat!
sounds worse on your record
My neighbor's kid threw a rock at an acquaintance's car leaving his driveway after they had a fight and the cops charge and convicted him of firing a missile--a frigging missile! Explain that to your potential employer.
Terroristic threat
This was years ago when one of my daughters was a teen she had a fight with a friend the friend called the police claiming my daughter came to her home saying she would choke her to death so the police came out to arrest my daughter. The only thing that saved her from being arrested on the spot was she had proof she was at Disneyland when this supposed terroristic threat took place.
I called the police one time to report a man exposing himself to my kids and the policeman accused us of making the story up. He actually asked to my 8 year old was his 'dick' sticking up or was it down ... I couldn't believe it. I complained to the captain and he laughed at me.
The police have always been jerks.
These days I would not call the police for any reason whatsoever.
Luckily most local cops here are more lenient
A few years ago at 2am in the morning, a couple friends were attcked by some heroin addicts at gun-point. My friends had marijuana, and they knew the sister of one of those guys, so they came to my friend's house and tied him up at gun-point, trying to get drugs and money. His friend walked in and started screaming, a neighbor heard the screams and called the cops. The cops showed up, and the heroin addicts drove off, my friends admitted they had pot, but the cops said whatever and drove off after the gun-wielding heroin addicts instead. Those cops were cool, and basically told them to get rid of the pot, but they didn't arrest them because the heroin addicts with guns were the REAL THREAT to society!
Actually, I know a couple of people who have been caught with pot after being stopped for speeding, but in most cases the pot was confiscasted and the cops gave them stupid traffic violations instead, with a clear warning to go to court and pay up or else they would charge them with drug trafficking.
You have to know the maximum amount you can have on you though, and NEVER carry any more than that on you or in your car. Most cops around here don't care about "personal use" and will just confiscate it, but if it's too much they will bust you for selling. I think it's because most of them know that their own kids smoke it! And what they actually do with the confiscated stuff, I'll leave that up to your imagination!
I may be a vegetarian, but I'll defend to the death my right to eat meat!
wouldn't want to dilute law enforcement resources from busting
rapists, violent criminals, pedophiles or thieves...
how much longer do we dilute their efforts with this crap at the taxpayer's expense?
fight this one tooth and nail my man, hang in there
Very sorry to hear this. We
Very sorry to hear this. We need Ron Paul to get elected to, among many other things, end this horrible War on Drugs. To quote Dr. Paul: “The War on Marijuana causes so much hardship and accomplishes nothing.”
I wish you the best of luck.
http://RonPaulHemp.com - Quality Ron Paul shirts and apparel made from hemp for the Ron Paul Revolution. Original articles and news on Ron Paul, marijuana, hemp, the 2012 GOP race, and liberty!
I would like to know what you
I would like to know what you were specifically charged with, State or Federal?
The definitions used in both State and Federal statutes are typically, if not always, used to obfuscate the truth. For example:
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/21cfr/21usc/802.htm
(26) The term "State" means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States.
Whats wrong with this? Ill show you: look at other parts of Title 21
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2010-title21/html/USCODE...
(2) Customs territory
For the purposes of subsection (a) of this section, the term “customs territory of the United States” means the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/usc_sec_21_00000387----000...
(22) United States
The term “United States” means the 50 States of the United States of America and the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Wake Island, Midway Islands, Kingman Reef, Johnston Atoll, the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other trust territory or possession of the United States.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode21/usc_sec_21_0...
TITLE 21 > CHAPTER 9 > SUBCHAPTER II > § 321
§ 321. Definitions; generally
How Current is This?
For the purposes of this chapter—
(a)
(1) The term “State”, except as used in the last sentence of section 372 (a) of this title, means any State or Territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(2) The term “Territory” means any Territory or possession of the United States, including the District of Columbia, and excluding the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Canal Zone.
You see, there are "States of the United States" and there are "the 50 States", the former being any territory under control of Congress, see here:
http://www.epa.gov/envirofw/html/icr/state/GU.html
Information Collections Rule Query Form
for the State of GUAM
"State of Washington D.C."
http://www.ded.uscourts.gov/JJF/Opinions/recent/Sep2007/07-4...
Your filing a suit for 4th
Your filing a suit for 4th and 6th Amendment violations? Are you talking about your "Constitutional Rights"?
“The right of trial by jury in civil cases, guaranteed by the Seventh Amendment (Walker v. Sauvinet, 92 US 90), and the right to bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment (Presser v. Illinois, 116 US 252), have been distinctly held not to be privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment against abridgment by the States, and in effect the same decision was made in respect of the guarantee against prosecution, except by indictment by grand jury, contained in the Fifth Amendment (Hurtado v. California, 110 US 516), and in respect of the right to be confronted with witness is, contained in the Sixth Amendment. West v. Louisiana, 194 US 258. In Maxwell v. Dow, supra, where the plaintiff in error had been convicted in a state court of a felony upon information and by a jury of eight persons, it was held that the indictment, made indispensable by the Fifth Amendment, and the trial by jury guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment, were not privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States, as those words were used in the Fourteenth Amendment… the decision rested upon the ground that this clause of the Fourteenth Amendment did not forbid the States to abridge the personal rights enumerated in the first eight Amendments, because these rights were not within the meaning of the clause ‘privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States.’ …We conclude, therefore, that the exemption from compulsory self-incrimination is not a privilege or immunity of National citizenship guaranteed by this clause of the Fourteenth Amendment against abridgment by the States…
“…it is possible that some of the personal rights safeguarded by the first eight Amendments against National action may also be safeguarded against State action, because a denial of them would be a denial of due process of law… If this is so, it is not because those rights are enumerated in the first eight Amendments, but because they are of such a nature that they are included in the conception of due process of law.”
(Twining v. New Jersey, 211 U.S. 78, 98-99, 29 S.Ct. 14, 53 L.Ed. 97.)
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"Ehhh, What's ups Doc?" B.Bunny "Scwewy Wabbit!"E. Fudd
People's Awareness Coalition: Deprogramming Sequence
What is the lethal dose of marijuana?
According to which US Government authority the lethal dose of marijuana is either about one-third your body weight, or about 1,500 pounds, consumed all at once.
In summary, enormous doses of Delta 9 THC, All THC and concentrated marihuana extract ingested by mouth were unable to produce death or organ pathology in large mammals but did produce fatalities in smaller rodents due to profound central nervous system depression.
The non-fatal consumption of 3000 mg/kg A THC by the dog and monkey would be comparable to a 154-pound human eating approximately 46 pounds (21 kilograms) of 1%-marihuana or 10 pounds of 5% hashish at one time. In addition, 92 mg/kg THC intravenously produced no fatalities in monkeys. These doses would be comparable to a 154-pound human smoking at one time almost three pounds (1.28 kg) of 1%-marihuana or 250,000 times the usual smoked dose and over a million times the minimal effective dose assuming 50% destruction of the THC by smoking.
Thus, evidence from animal studies and human case reports appears to indicate that the ratio of lethal dose to effective dose is quite large. This ratio is much more favorable than that of many other common psychoactive agents including alcohol and barbiturates (Phillips et al. 1971, Brill et al. 1970).
4.Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal
effects. But marijuana is not such a substance. There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality.
5. This is a remarkable statement. First, the record on
marijuana encompasses 5,000 years of human experience, second, marijuana is now used daily by enormous numbers of people throughout the world. Estimates suggest that from twenty million to fifty million Americans routinely, albeit illegally, smoke marijuana without the benefit of direct medical supervision. Yet, despite this long history of use and the extraordinarily high numbers of social smokers, there are simply no credible medical reports to suggest that consuming marijuana has caused a
single death.
6. By contrast aspirin, a commonly used, over-the-counter medicine, causes hundreds of deaths each year.
7. Drugs used in medicine are routinely given what is called an LD-50. The LD-50 rating indicates at what dosage fifty percent of test animals receiving a drug will die as a result of drug induced toxicity. A number of researchers have attempted to determine marijuana's LD-50 rating in test animals, without success. Simply stated, researchers have been unable to give animals enough marijuana to induce death.
8. At present it is estimated that marijuana's LD-50 is around 1:20,000 or 1:40,000. In layman terms this means that in order to induce death a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times as much marijuana as is contained in one marijuana cigarette. NIDA-supplied
marijuana cigarettes weigh approximately .9 grams. A smoker would theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within about fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response.
9. In practical terms, marijuana cannot induce a lethal response as a result of drug-related toxicity.
10.Another common medical way to determine drug safety is called the therapeutic ratio. This ratio defines the difference between a therapeutically effective dose and a dose which is capable of inducing adverse effects.
11. A commonly used over-the-counter product like aspirin has a therapeutic ratio of around 1:20. Two aspirins are the recommended dose for adult patients. Twenty times this dose, forty aspirins, may cause a
lethal reaction in some patients, and will almost certainly cause gross injury to the digestive system, including extensive internal bleeding.
12. The therapeutic ratio for prescribed drugs is commonly around 1:10 or lower. Valium, a commonly used prescriptive drug, may cause very serious biological damage if patients use ten times the recommended (therapeutic) dose.
13. There are, of course, prescriptive drugs which have much lower therapeutic ratios. Many of the drugs used to treat patients with cancer, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis are highly toxic. The therapeutic ratio of some of the drugs used in anti neoplastic therapies, for example, are regarded as extremely toxic poisons with therapeutic ratios that may fall below 1:1.5. These drugs also have very low LD-50 ratios and can result in toxic, even lethal reactions, while being properly employed.
14. By contrast, marijuana's therapeutic ratio, like its LD-50, is impossible to quantify because it is so high.
15. In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. For example, eating ten raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By comparison, it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death.
16. Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care.
Water is more Lethal!
It actually IS possible to drink so much water over a short period of time that you drop dead.
But before you could smoke the lethal dose of marijuana you'd pass out! And if you actually ate it, the THC wouldn't kill you, rather your innards exploding from that much solids entering would!
I may be a vegetarian, but I'll defend to the death my right to eat meat!
sorry to hear about that
,that's why we must urge people with liberty minded views run for office in their states and just maybe we can finally end this war on drugs and maybe free thousands of innocent people from these gulags
Thank you
I don't use illegal drugs. I haven't gone to jail before. I haven't had charges like these pressed against me. I know that if I'm not thankful for something, I'm doomed to lose it.
Thank YOU for defending my freedom. Thank you for fighting. Every step you take to defend yourself from tyranny is a step you take to defend me as well.
I will continue to keep you in my prayers.
I did 10 years fed time for
I did 10 years fed time for LSD. I feel your pain. I hope you get off with the lightest penalty possible. However, I must tell you that you are better off fighting the system politically through the liberty movement and the Ron Paul campaign than spending thousands of dollars on lawsuits. 99% of all lawyers and judges are corrupt scoundrels. And the other 1% is afraid. You will not win. Change the system instead, as hard as that may be. Good luck to you and take the best deal you can get.
do both
519rob,
No, arrests for MJ are different.
Shouldn't be, both MJ and other currently illicit substances should be legalized.
What happened to you happened to many, and it was and is outrageous.
One can win and one MUST fight.
By continuing to fight and never saying "we surrender" ultimately, we win!
Don't know when you were in: did you know either the late John Beresford or Nora Callahan?
Producing, distributing and archiving the BEST Ron Paul Speech films.
I take your point. Believe
I take your point. Believe me. I get it. But RPJayhawk can't even pay for his defense without making payments, and that's a NORML lawyer. Maybe he could find someone to work pro bono, but its doubtful. I would just like him to remember that life goes on and letting this incident consume him financially, after so much hardship already, is perhaps not the best course. I am involved right now in a state appellate case involving the smoking ban that just passed last year in my state. It has cost us $60,000 (SIXTY THOUSAND) so far, and if we lose, we still have to go to the Supreme court. Luckily, I am splitting the cost with others and I make pretty good money. I'm not against fighting. I just understand the costs. But hey, if that's the way he wants to go, I wish him all the luck in the world. BTW, I do not know those people. 2/92 - 11/00.
First off, I'm a girl :)
Second. The civil suits will be represented by an attorney who will work for a percentage of settlement.
I have many civil suits here. I was denied access to an attorney and assaulted while being held without charges.
The property management company came into my condo without notice (a lease violation) and invited cops into my house without a warrant. The newspaper took pictures of my private property without permission and put it on the front page of the paper. Believe me, we have strong civil suits. I wouldn't do it if I didn't think it was worth it. I can't let people destroy my life like this and not at least take them to court.
I won't say anything else, because again, case is still pending.
www.ilovegenerationx.com
Posts Organized By Day
That all sounds good. Not
That all sounds good. Not knowing, I thought you were trying to challenge the constitutionality of the drug laws.LOL. Good luck to you.
yes, litigation can be ruinous
I have extensive, personal experience with the high costs of litigation and you are right, it's a ruinous experience.
rpjayhawk appears to have an attorney who is quite prominent in the movement and probably prepared for this type of case.
Believe me, I understand your advice (I've given substantially the same advice to others pondering whether or not to get involved in court fights, tilting at windmills, etc).
You wrote: "...RPJayhawk can't even pay for his defense without making payments, and that's a NORML lawyer. Maybe he could find someone to work pro bono, but its doubtful." Very true, the prospects for getting competent representation at affordable cost is quite bleak.
I do think that especially with MJ cases it becomes necessary to consider the political advantage to pursuing the litigation whenever it is at all possible. There simply are so many who have been convicted and incarcerated; thru many of them fighting back we are stronger.
Usually, no one case provides the tipping point but the combined weight of numerous challengers can bring about change. For the most part I say Clog The Courts, make the prohibitionists work overtime and make the taxpayers understand that increasing amounts of their money is going to fight a losing battle.
I think we win by winning, not by surrender.
Thanks for answering my question about your time inside.
I worked for some years directly to try and get people like you out (still doing so, still trying to help reach that tipping point).
Dr. Beresford http://equalrights4all.us/?p=31 (he was a psychiatrist and one of the earliest researchers on therapeutic uses of LSD, also a colleague and close friend to Albert Hofmann.) Thru him I and many others were in regular contact with alot of the people incarcerated for your "crime".
Producing, distributing and archiving the BEST Ron Paul Speech films.
Victim
Everybody should follow your example. I hope a lot of people see your article and start hitting the Neocons back. The fact is we are getting sick and tired of our constitutional laws and rights being shoved aside like they mean nothing. I'm sure many will be watching for updates.