Originally published November 28 2010
Willie Nelson pot possession charge shows ludicrousness of marijuana prohibition
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
(NaturalNews) Marijuana prohibition is the cornerstone of the U.S. police state. It gives cops a reason to search vehicles and keeps DEA employees on the payroll while filling the prisons with literally millions of people who have harmed no one except themselves.
Country singer superstar Willie Nelson is the latest victim of this police state marijuana prohibition. His vehicle was stopped at an immigration checkpoint (yes, immigration) in Sierra Blanca, Texas, where an officer claimed he smelled pot. A search of the vehicle turned up six ounces of marijuana for which Willie Nelson was arrested along with two other people.
For the record, Willie Nelson is 77 years old. The whole point of arresting people and sending them to prison is to isolate violent, dangerous people from the rest of the public in order to protect public safety. Does anybody seriously believe that Willie Nelson is a threat to public safety? He's practically the most harmless guy on the planet.
Immigration checkpoints used against U.S. citizens
The other important point here is that all this took place at an immigration checkpoint. This is supposed to be a place where U.S. officials look for vehicles full of people illegally entering the United States from Mexico. Did Willie Nelson look like an illegal alien? Of course not. He's obviously a U.S. citizen (and a well-known celebrity on top of that), yet that didn't stop this immigration checkpoint officer from searching his vehicle.
You see, there's something that all the people who support tighter illegal immigration fences, walls and checkpoints haven't yet realized: All that security is going to be used against YOU, too! Border Patrol officers and U.S. feds aren't just looking for illegal aliens, you see: They're also looking to arrest people who are obviously U.S. citizens -- and they will arrest you for things that have nothing to do with immigration.
Are you carrying some fertilizer in your truck? Ah, now you're a terrorist with "bomb making materials." Have some duct tape in your vehicle? Now you have materials that can be used "to bind the hands of kidnapping victims." And if you're smoking a joint, God forbid, now you're going to be hauled off to jail by these immigration checkpoint officers who apparently have nothing important to do.
Why marijuana prohibition makes no sense
For the record, I'm not a marijuana smoker, and I would never encourage any individual to take up such a habit unless they had a legitimate medical need for pain relief. However, I am totally against the continued persecution of individuals who buy, possess or consume this medicinal herb. They harm no one but themselves, and smoking marijuana produces side effects that are far milder than drinking alcohol.
In fact, in America today it's perfectly legal to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes and even drug your own kids with "speed" in the form of prescription amphetamines for ADHD. And yet marijuana -- which makes people feel lazy and hungry -- remains illegal. You have to wonder: Why?
Why is marijuana criminalized in America? The answer is simply that marijuana prohibition is the cornerstone of the American police state. Keeping this herb illegal keeps millions of people employed in law enforcement who otherwise wouldn't have jobs. It keeps the prison industry strong and gives cops a reason to search vehicles.
It even gives law enforcement officers yet another excuse to hold "terrorism drills." Seriously: A recent terrorism drill in Northern California imagined pot heads taking over Shasta Dam and blowing up vehicles (http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2010/nov...). These cops must have a lot of free time on their hands to dream up these wild (and highly improbable) scenarios. But keeping marijuana criminalized allows them to spend more taxpayer money running these useless drills that, after all, keep them all well paid.
At the same time, it causes billions of dollars a year to flow into the underground black market economy -- money that would otherwise be used to raise tax revenues for states. (http://stopthedrugwar.org/speakeasy/2010/nov...)
The "War on Drugs" has been a complete and utter failure (http://drugpolicy.org/drugwar/). It's also a huge waste of law enforcement resources. I'd much rather see cops going after real criminals like the CEOs and executives of drug companies, Monsanto and Wall Street banksters.
Legalizing and taxing marijuana would end the illegal drug trafficking in marijuana and deny revenues to drug gangs and drug dealers. It would raise billions of dollars for states and eliminate the huge costs of incarcerating marijuana "criminals." It would free up resources throughout the court system and give cops the time to go after violent criminals such as murderers and rapists.
And it would end this moronic system that arrests a harmless 77-year-old country western singer for marijuana possession at an immigration checkpoint.
Learn more about ending the criminalization of marijuana possession
Here's some additional information:
www.Norml.org
www.DrugPolicy.org
www.StopTheDrugWar.org
www.FlexYourRights.com
Editor's note: Do not interpret this article as a "pro-marijuana" position. I am not pro-marijuana, I don't consume this herb personally and I don't advocate consumption of this herb. I do, however, advocate freedom and liberty for individuals, and I believe that individuals have the right to make their own decisions about what they choose to eat, drink or smoke. The argument that government must "protect" people from marijuana just doesn't hold water: That same government openly allows people to kill themselves with cigarettes, alcohol and FDA-approved prescription drugs that are far more dangerous than marijuana.
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