THE TAKE DOWN OF PATRICIA SPOTTEDCROW - OKLAHOMA'S MOST NOTORIOUS MARIJUANA DEALER - PART ONE

Oklahoma citizens can breathe a lot easier now that the "notorious drug dealer", Patricia Spottedcrow, was arrested, found guilty, and sentenced to 12 years in prison for the sale of 3 marijuana cigarettes to a police informant.

PATRICIA SPOTTEDCROW, MUGSHOT:

Credit: Oklahoma Dept. of Corrections.

NOTE: Links to sources/credits, if not otherwise listed: please click on the photo or text that is in orange. This will bring you to the source.

Patricia Spottedcrow - her Mother Starr and two of her children::

Back Ground Story: Kingfisher County, OK; On Dec. 31, 2009, "Spottedcrow and her mother, Delita Starr, 50, sold a “dime bag” of marijuana to a police informant at Starr's home in Kingfisher. A month later the "informant returned and bought "two dime bags", for $20. According to several news sources, it was Patricia's mother, Starr, who made the sales. At one point it is alleged "Starr asked one of the boys to run and get change." In order to "avoid breaking-up the family, the judicial system/powers to be, in this case chose to punish Patricia, only with prison time; that way "the children's Grandmother, Starr, would still be there for the children growing up."



History of the term, "Dime Bag".

A "dime-bag" of marijuana, in the 1960's - 1970's was a baggie in which there was an index finger's worth of marijuana; or that's 1/4 oz equals 7 grams; cost $10.

A full ounce then cost $40, and was a baggie four fingers full of herb. The marijuana during those years came from one of several overseas sources: Mexico - Acapulco Gold; or Jamaica - Jamaican; Panama - or "Panama Red"; Columbia - or simply "Columbian"; or Thai Stick, from Thailand. Those were the common varieties available at the time for $40 an ounce. A full ounce is 28 grams.

In the 1980's, due to Reaganomics; the "War on Drugs", the dwindling availability of previously described varieties, the prices either increased, or the product became unavailable. Domestically grown cannabis took the place of foreign sources, especially cannabis from California, called sinsemillia (without seeds) sinsemillia.

"Dime bags" disappeared completely, replaced by a more potent, crystalline "bud" packaged in aluminum foil. The potency of the THC increased substantially thanks to the "War on Drugs"! The price of a gram increased to around $60 or more. The price of a "dime bag" of leafy herb and bud like that in the old days, if available, increased to around $40, a 1/4oz.

By the 1990's, the cannabis collective caught up with the demand and the more familiar domestically grown, marijuana, began to show up on the US market once again. It was not highly prized as was simply called "domestic" or "dirtweed", as many remembered the herb of the 60's and 70's. The price was no longer $10 a quarter oz. either, but rather, began at $60 a 1/4 or more, and rose to $80 to $120 a 1/4oz by the year 2000.

By the late 20th century the majority of cannabis would come from within the USA, or Canada. The "Drug War" in Mexico now as a result has little to do with most US consumers, except perhaps our friends in the southern states.

How do I know this? I worked in several colleges and public schools from 1975 to 2000. Then in late 2004 while assisting in the search for Brianna Maitland, interviewing friends and people she knew, I found it important to establish her sources for marijuana, and other drugs, that people in her area were consuming. I know where the "shit" comes from. Maybe the DEA should hire me, but I'd naturally reject their offer... as I don't believe recreational drug use is a criminal issue, rather, I believe the use of recreational drugs in this country is at most a mental health issue, if an issue at all.

On Dec. 31, 2009, the $10 worth of marijuana Patricia Spottedcrow alledgedly sold to a police informant would have amounted to less than a gram of marijuana, or in practical terms, she sold the informant a "joint". And a week later the same informant returned to purchase $20 worth of marijuana, or two joints, by today's cannabis commodity prices.

According to the following story, Patricia wasn't even the person to make the sale, her mother Starr was: http://newsok.com/how-31-of-pot-gave-mom-a-10-year-prison-sentence/article/3542585#ixzz1EXydQk1l

Marijuana transactions:
"On Dec. 31, 2009, Spottedcrow and her mother, Delita Starr, 50, sold a dime bag of marijuana to a police informant at Starr's home in Kingfisher, court records state.
Starr handled the transaction and asked her 9-year-old grandson, ”Spottedcrow's son” for some dollar bills to make change for the $11 sale. Two weeks later, the same informant returned and bought $20 of marijuana from Spottedcrow."

"The two women were arrested for drug distribution and because Spottedcrow's children were in the home, an additional charge of possession of a dangerous substance in the presence of a minor was added."

“It just seemed like easy money,” said Spottedcrow, who says she is not a drug user but has smoked marijuana. “I thought we could get some extra money."

Spottedcrow was unemployed at the time from a nursing home where she had been working. Spottedcrow had worked as a certified nursing assistant and certified medical assistant but was unemployed and did not have a stable residence at the time of her arrest, a report states. The family lost their Oklahoma City home for not paying bills.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=487&articleid=20110220_11_A1_CUTLIN556620&archive=yes


Spottedcrow's mother Starr made the original sale, but due to her mother's poor health, Patricia took the blame for the sales when the pair were arrested.

The two women were arrested for drug distribution and because Spottedcrow's children were in the home, an additional charge of possession of a dangerous substance in the presence of a minor was added.

The women were each offered plea deals of two years in prison. But because neither had prior convictions and the drug amounts were low, they gambled and entered a guilty plea before a judge with no prior sentencing agreement.

Starr received a 30-year suspended sentence with no incarceration, but five years of drug and alcohol assessments, and a fine of $8,600. Spottedcrow was sentenced to 10 years in prison for distribution and two years for possession, to run concurrently. She will be up for parole in 2014.

Former Kingfisher County Judge Susie Pritchett, who retired in December 2010, said "the women were conducting an extensive operation which included children in the business. It was a way of life for them", Pritchett said.

Considering these circumstances, "I thought it was lenient", Pritchett said. "By not putting the grandmother in prison, she is able to help take care of the children". In addition, A presentencing investigative report prepared by the Department of Corrections rated Spottedcrow's risk of re-offending as highly likely, and recommended substance abuse treatment while incarcerated.

Well, duh... who the hell takes "Reefer Madness" seriously!!!?

Patricia Spottedcrow joins the ranks of equally notorious marijuana villians such as Timothy Leary, David Bowie, Willie Nelson, and GOP Lawmaker, Robert Watson.

"Dr. Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was a highly influential American psychologist and writer, known in later life for advocating advanced research into the therapeutic benefits of psychedelic drugs. A hugely controversial figure during the 1960s and 1970s, he defended the use of the drug LSD for its therapeutic, emotional and spiritual benefits, and even believed it showed incredible potential in the field of psychiatry. Leary also popularized the phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out". Both proved to be hugely influential on the 1960s counterculture. Largely due to his influence in this field, he was attacked by conservative figures in the United States, and described as "the most dangerous man in America" by President Richard Nixon."

: Music legend David Bowie was arrested in upstate New York in March 1976 on a felony pot possession charge. The Thin White Duke, 29 at the time, was nabbed along with Iggy Pop and two other codefendants at a Rochester hotel following a concert. Bowie was held in the Monroe County jail for a few hours before being released. The above Rochester Police Department mug shot was taken three days after Bowie's arrest, when the performer appeared at City Court for arraignment.

: Country music star Willie Nelson was arrested in November 2010 and charged with pot possession after six ounces of marijuana was found on his tour bus at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Texas. The 77-year-old Nelson, who claimed ownership of the pot, was booked into the Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Office lockup and released after he posted $2500 bond. If convicted of the drug charge, the singer faces up to six months in jail.

: Robert Watson, Rhode Island lawmaker who ripped pot smokers, busted for marijuana possession.

Robert Watson is your typical hypocrite! Much like anti-prostitution warrior Eliot Spitzer. Who was caught with his pants down with the now infamous "Client 9", Ashley Dupre, Call-Girl Extraordinaire:

Eliot Spitzer, ex-governor of NY with his very attractive wife:

So, what exactly did Patricia Spottedcrow do to deserve a 12 year sentence for the sale of three joints? #1, she wasn't a governor or senator. #2, this isn't America, "the Land of the Free", it's China. #3: Someone has to be the poster-child for "drugs are bad"!

To President Obama and all you other law-makers out there in the USA? Where's the friggin' SCIENCE in your decision-making and policies? Marijuana - "A Dangerous Drug"??? I really don't think so! So why the hurt cast onto millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens? It's Time to stop hurting American Citizens with your Witch-Hunts!


PATRICIA SPOTTEDCROW, The MARIJUANA WITCH of OKLAHOMA:

Drink your booze and smoke your tobacco... do whatever your esteemed status lets you do...

BUT PLEASE...

STOP THE HURT!!!

To Be Continued...

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE... THE WORSE THEY GET...

Catch-up for a Wednesday night. The title of this post isn't particularly relevant to anything that follows. I thought about the title "Whispering In The Grapevines", too. Another possible title: Why Have a Personal Blog?", but I've already touched upon that question in an earlier post. So the title I chose is the title, but the subjects are numerous.

1) Hate Crimes: God I dislike people getting hurt, especially for being different. Like any of us are the same, really? Are we? Ahh, but the "same", like having similar ideals, "correct" skin-color, proper gender, acceptable religious and ethnic roots, politically correct religious beliefs, and stance on politics. To some people, differences mean hate. A lot of HATE!

In the news today, perhaps the last news I'll ever read, was an article about a mid-west homeowner who happens to be gay - quietly gay. But a nice guy and known around town. He had 7 horses, and a shoal, there was a young horse, less than a year old, and another on it's way. This man loved his horses. And all of them were murdered, burned when someone who spray-painted hateful graffiti against gays on the side of the barn, managed to set a fire in the barn, and barricade the doors so the homeowner and horse-master couldn't open them. All the horses died.

Revenge against a man who is gay. Horribly tragic and senseless.

But hardly rare for our kind. But I have to wonder why? Why can we as a species be so caring, helpful and kind, and yet others, so hateful, prejudice and narrow-minded?

I grew up under the threat of the Ku Klux Klan... and no I'm not black. I'm quite white, like a WASP. It's that being born in 1954 the Klan was very active and feared, even by whites. See, like the mafia, you didn't joke about them, you didn't ask questions, and you certainly did not take sides opposed to a power if it existed in your town. And from what I grew up knowing, the Klan was around our town.

Well, see, some might think I'm diseased or mentally impaired... when I admit I've never understood hate, prejudice, or narrow-mindedness. I do know growing up I was subject to a lot of pressure to believe those things. Early in my teens I started to believe them... say around 1967... while in High School, I began to feel "hate" towards "drug users". I felt no hate towards the assholes that bullied me, just fear. But drug users... I was straight as an arrow then and the idea that people became addicted to marijuana and it led to hard drugs that led to crime, well, it angered me.

By the time I graduated from HS, I was ready to join the DEA (The Dream Enforcement Administration) which is covered in a previous post.By age 18 I was drinking some, usually getting sick after two beers, smoking tobacco (dungweed), a virgin, and with absolutely ZERO self-awareness, nor idea what life was all about, except I hated "druggies".

I didn't particularly love nature either, secretly believed Blacks were inferior, didn't like women (something going back to age 7 when my mother "forced" me to not hang around with my sister and friends, Ann and Julie. My friends too. She was afraid I'd grow up gay.

Essentially, at age 18, changing my name to Dexter, sounded pretty accurate, looking back. Dexter as in ShowTimes hugely popular serial killer series.

But before I get to what happened to change all that, let me get to my 2nd topic:

2) I'm pretty much an isolationist these days... there were many years I wasn't, like when I lived in Boston.But over time, the things that happened to me, the things said, the whole life experience dragged me down. Through the "grapevine" I heard, I know friends of mine read my blog. They don't join or follow, probably afraid being as my blog has many controversial topics posted. I could assure them they live in a "Free Country" and it's not against the law to read my blog and follow, but it'd do no good.

See I've learned over time being different, or unique in the way one thinks, is admirable, but don't expect the free-thinking will earn points in the local group. Take my Poker topic, last post... "My Problem", according to what I heard. Cannabis prohibition, again, "My Problem".

Like I have this problem, "nobody else does", nobody they know.So it's My Problem. Another friend told me directly, god, what's the point of "ranting online"? Nobody cares, and you only look radical.

Another says: "You need to find God". Another, "For as many sites you post that support legalizing drugs, 100 times that support the War on Drugs". Another, "believe what you want, but gays, blacks, and Jews are what's wrong with the world".

I get sick of it. All the hate and narrow-mindedness.

Fact is Poker is not illegal to play, and cannabis doesn't kill people.

At age 19 I got high on cannabis for the first time, and it changed my life... opened my eyes and heart to the beauty and vastness of life... to nature, and people and animals and I felt love for the first time.

At age 50 I discovered online Poker. I found I could save hundreds of dollars that I had wasted on lottery games of chance, and even my doctors encouraged me - as at age 50 we start to have cognitive difficulties, and the challenge playing poker with people all around the world, strengthened my mind, exercised it and was a cheap way to unwind.

Millions of people have been affected in bad ways to the prohibition of cannabis, and recently to the DOJ attack on online poker sites that I am confident will be found to be innocent, and which coincidentally freed up hundreds of thousands of players loyal to these three sites, to play at new state run casinos, the most recent of which was legalized in Washington DC, not two weeks ago.

As for it being My Problem... hardly. I'm not gay, but no way do I consider what happened to that midwest horse owner to be simply HIS PROBLEM. It's OUR PROBLEM... and the whole purpose of my blog is to enlighten people to STOP THE HURT!!!

THE USA ONE UPS CHINA - US CITIZENS SUBJECT TO ONLINE POKER BLACKOUT - FBI REPORTEDLY SEIZES ... POKERSTARS.COM

It's a day out of a novel by George Orwell, "Nineteen-Eighty four", only now it's 2011... the week of April 10 -16. It's a week where after a bone-chilling, devastating Winter, the temperatures are finally rising, the snow is melting...

Problem is, our elected officials, are playing a game of "Russia Roulette" with our futures... Republicans in general appear to be doing everything possible to cut programs to the poor and needy, while providing extended tax cuts to the wealthy 3% of Americans... people like Donald Trump, Warren Buffet, Charlie Sheen...

Today, whether Washington knows it or not it has cast a blind eye to an event that will forever change/harm/blemish this country. It has ignored it's citizens by todays actions.... as much, if not more, than the Chinese Gov't offends it's citizens. We really, today, are no different.

Between 2.5 million to 8 million Americans play online poker, at sites like Poker-Stars, Full-Tilt Poker, and Absolute poker and others. Today the FBI allegedly "seized" ownership of those company sites and domain names.

Millions of Americans play poker online, and today they lost it all...

It all began with:

H.R.4954 - Port Security Improvement Act of 2006

Texas Holdem Poker at the time was a world-wide phenomenon, very popular, especially in the United States. This was a direct result of an average American, early 2000's, who with a couple of dollars and a computer won himself a seat, online, to the World Series of Poker Tournament, and WON!!!

Today players from the United States are unable to play online poker. Some people have gotten FBI Warnings when connecting to the sites like PokerStars. Others get a message as follows when they're able to log on and try to play a game:

I am logged in when I receive this message. And then when I go to sign up for a game:

As you can see players from many countries are signed up and about to play. So the companies aren't "SHUT-DOWN". Instead, players in the US are being censured from playing... and why? My opinion is those republicans I mentioned earlier that included that clause that caused all this poker problem in the first place, are terrorists, as they have effectively put millions of Americans in PANIC MODE right now, and not that it will happen... but it would be nice if a Federal Judge in Boston would review the indictments handed down in NY, and file/judge whatever he/she needs to, if warranted, to put a stop, if only temporary, on the indictments.

It is not fair to put American citizens through this HELL, like this, on a Friday afternoon. Now into the weekend!

IT IS NOT ILLEGAL TO PLAY ONLINE GAMES WHICH INVOLVE MONEY... and for some players millions of taxable dollars are at stake, about to be seized.

This sounds like China that recently passed laws against a citizens right to view anything related to "Time Travel, Reincarnation, X-Files, UFO's... Chinese Government Bans Television Time Travel

But we have to do better... so ban poker to americans while the rest of the world plays, and laughs at us...

Senator John Kyl, of wherever said... "Anything I say doesn't have to be factual" - Article/Link: Sen. John Kyl Mocked for "Not Factual" Remarks And that's just fine... lets govern Americans based on fantasy and lies.

That's the problem with Washington... seems FACTS don't matter... like the budget bill... screw the have-nots, reward the haves!

TO SUMMARIZE:

The Justice Dept of the United States has infringed on the rights of US citizens to play an online game that involves money. It is obvious most other countries ARE NOT subject to censure, and that these companies and their domains have not been seized, albeit, except by the US targeting US citizens. This is no different than actions we abhor in China.

The only way what happened was made possible was because certain of our elected officials decided to insert this poker clause in an important Port security bill. What tees me off the most is the politics... underhanded and distinctly targeted towards a group of people with a specific legal interest.... people who enjoy playing online Texas Holdem, and why not??? It is a great sport, even better than betting on the horses, which is considered "more legal".

What's legal is called the US Constitution... and this final straw to clamping down on a personal individuals rights, is inexcusable. Today, the federal government played it's hand of cards... and lost, as US Citizens LOST, and the federal government works for it's citizens, not it's own special interests, nor those of certain right-wing politicians who think poker is immoral. Today, the indictment heard 'round the world was thrown. An assault on Americans no different than those heaped on Chinese or Libyan citizen's.

I urge the UN to review the indictment, and to consider, are other's around the world still enjoying online Texas holdem at PokerStars? If so, this is a violation of our Constitutional Rights and I hope the UN intercedes. A country's Constitution outweighs any laws passed that violate said Constitution.

UPDATE; APR_16:

I followed up on the comment left by "BlackLuck", and no surprise, we have a white-knight in the Republican ranks, who is dead against poker!!!

Introducing, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Virginia, 6th district.

WIKIPEDIA LINK:

Apparently Bob, hates online poker. Why is that, I wonder? Is it simply Republican Insanity Syndrome? Or was the pot he smoked in the '70's tainted with paraquat???

Add to that Bob's powerful committee connections in Congress:

COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS:

***Committee on Agriculture (Vice Chair)
Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy, and Forestry
Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry
***Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet (Chairman)
Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security

So WHO elected this guy??? If his views on poker are like his views on other personal freedoms, including cannabis, and he's on the Judiciary Committee, then Bob is exactly sort of politician that doesn't represent a "Free America", but rather, he represents the exact opposite. Corporate Special Interests!

Read what Bob "thinks" about online poker here, at Wikipedia:

Goodlatte is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online gambling. In 2006, he sponsored H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.[1] In September 2006, working with now defeated Iowa Congressman Jim Leach, Goodlatte was a major House supporter of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. The Act was passed at midnight the day Congress adjourned before the 2006 elections. Prior to it being added to the bill, the gambling provisions had not been debated by any Congressional committee.[2] The bill was made sure to exclude online horse racing gambling. They claimed moral reasons for pushing for a ban on Internet gambling, but critics charge that it was due to campaign contributions from the horse racing industry.

"Prohibition"! What is it about federally sponsored acts of prohibition??? Poker, cannabis, prostitution... Are we not a free society? How can laws based on theological premise make their way into our society? Or laws based on hysteria and misinformation? People talk about Capital Punishment and how an innocent man could be executed, but do we consider the number of people cut off from freedom in this country everyday because some of our laws are archaic and draconian, and Washington does nothing to correct these issues.

How can President Obama, Senator Ayotte ignore the seriousness of these issues, infringements on citizen's rights?

It's simply a very sad state of affairs in this country right now. Things suck! And they might just as well outlaw baseball!!!

WAKE UP WASHINGTON!

SPECIAL REPORT: HOW NH CANNABIS/MARIJUANA LAWS VIOLATE THE NH CONSTITUTION

Edited April 26, 2011

My opinion, how the current laws in the state of NH violates it's Constitution. I'm open to the possibility that some open-minded attorneys in NH, or the ACLU will consider acting on the information I am about to provide. It is information that has come together over 20+ years of research - I did not come up with all this overnight!

23 years ago I moved from MA to NH, and got a job at a public school. I worked the night shift, as a custodian. I should add, a custodian with a BA degree in English, and I did the work partly by the consequences of past events, and because I actually loved the work. I loved the work provided I was working in a place of education, ie, colleges, schools.

One of the benefits of working in a school or college was the resources available. Books, teachers, professors, students learning, books, archives, educated people.

Around about 1990 I became concerned that my interest in cannabis might get me in trouble... not just that I used it after work, but because I was considering writing a book on the subject, and already had 20 more plus years that I'd researched the topic.I began my research into cannabis prohibition around 1975; back then, extending into the 1990's, the only way to research a subject was through books, micro-fiche, and books.

The school in NH I worked at had a library complete with everything I needed to do a splurge ahead in cannabis research, specifically, prohibition. I was paranoid though, that if my topic of study was discovered, I'd be in big trouble, unlike if I was caught researching UFO's, or Zombies. It didn't seem right that researching cannabis would be a problem, but I'd been raised to understand in the US we have freedoms, profound freedoms, unlike anywhere else in the world; but with limitations, like not shouting FIRE in a crowded theater, or empty,nor walking naked down Main Street, or studying the effects of tobacco on frogs.There were things you couldn't do. So, yeah, I was paranoid.

My first step was to study the Constitution of the State of NH. It seemed logical to understand my rights under the Constitution. In many ways State Constitutions mirror the US Constitution. However many have interesting variables and additions. All are extremely important, but the oldest that survive with little change, those are the ones that are a strong root into a states past.As it turned out, I found exactly what I was looking for, couldn't believe my eyes, and an Article unique to New Hampshire. Article 83 of the NH Constitution:
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Established October 31, 1783 Effective June 2, 1784 As Subsequently Amended and in Force January 2007

[Art.] 83. [Encouragement of Literature, etc.; Control of Corporations, Monopolies, etc.] Knowledge and learning, generally diffused through a community, being essential to the preservation of a free government; and spreading the opportunities and advantages of education through the various parts of the country, being highly conducive to promote this end; it shall be the duty of the legislators and magistrates, in all future periods of this government, to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries and public schools, to encourage private and public institutions, rewards, and immunities for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and natural history of the country; to countenance and inculcate the principles of humanity and general benevolence, public and private charity, industry and economy, honesty and punctuality, sincerity, sobriety, and all social affections, and generous sentiments, among the people: Provided, nevertheless, that no money raised by taxation shall ever be granted or applied for the use of the schools of institutions of any religious sect or denomination. Free and fair competition in the trades and industries is an inherent and essential right of t he people and should be protected against all monopolies and conspiracies which tend to hinder or destroy it. The size and functions of all corporations should be so limited and regulated as to prohibit fictitious capitalization and provision should be made for the supervision and government thereof. Therefore, all just power possessed by the state is hereby granted to the general court to enact laws to prevent the operations within the state of all persons and associations, and all trusts and corporations, foreign or domestic, and the officers thereof, who endeavor to raise the price of any article of commerce or to destroy free and fair competition in the trades and industries through combination, conspiracy, monopoly, or any other unfair means; to control and regulate the acts of all such persons, associations, corporations, trusts, and officials doing business within the state; to prevent fictitious capitalization; and to authorize civil and criminal proceedings in respect to all the wrongs herein declared against.

June 2, 1784
Amended 1877 prohibiting tax money from being applied to schools of religious denominations.
Amended 1903 permitting the general court to regulate trusts and monopolies restraining free trade.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

The first thing I took from that was my Contitutional right to study cannabis prohibition, free from fear of reprisals:

Knowledge and learning, generally diffused through a community, being essential to the preservation of a free government; and spreading the opportunities and advantages of education through the various parts of the country, being highly conducive to promote this end; it shall be the duty of the legislators and magistrates, in all future periods of this government, to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries and public schools, to encourage private and public institutions, rewards, and immunities for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and natural history of the country.

But I was stunned to learn something extra in Article 83:

Free and fair competition in the trades and industries is an inherent and essential right of t he people and should be protected against all monopolies and conspiracies which tend to hinder or destroy it. The size and functions of all corporations should be so limited and regulated as to prohibit fictitious capitalization and provision should be made for the supervision and government thereof. Therefore, all just power possessed by the state is hereby granted to the general court to enact laws to prevent the operations within the state of all persons and associations, and all trusts and corporations, foreign or domestic, and the officers thereof, who endeavor to raise the price of any article of commerce or to destroy free and fair competition in the trades and industries through combination, conspiracy, monopoly, or any other unfair means; to control and regulate the acts of all such persons, associations, corporations, trusts, and officials doing business within the state; to prevent fictitious capitalization; and to authorize civil and criminal proceedings in respect to all the wrongs herein declared against.

Specifically: "...to encourage private and public institutions, rewards, and immunities for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and natural history." plus: "...or to destroy free and fair competition in the trades and industries through combination..."

Cannabis is a plant with several naturally occurring benefits. It can be used as a "safer" recreational substance, when compared to alcohol and tobacco; it can be made into industrial strength rope; it can be used for the seeds in food production, oils, food-butters, birdseed; it can be used as biomass; it can be beneficial as a medicine.

It is a commodity, and was established firmly as such in 1937 with Congressional passage of the "Marijuana Tax Act". Such an act could not have been made if cannabis wasn't a commodity, a source of value, an agricultural commodity. At the time cannabis was also included in the US Pharmacopedia, as a medicine. Henry Ford was experimenting with hemp oil as a bio fuel, others as a form of nylon, as in nylon stockings (source: "The Emperor Wears No Clothes", by Jack Herer - see my media list for details*).

Several Commercial Giants at the time, America Oil, DuPont, the newly revitalized alcohol industry found cannabis research and use as a threat. It also happened to be the case that DuPont had strong links with the Federal Gov't, and literally owned the state of Delaware with it's industrial monopolies. Between 1937 and 1940 several vital events that formed our future occurred... cannabis was subject to what was deemed (by the Supreme Court in 1971) an unconstitutionally taxable commodity; cannabis research and it's use as a medicine was squashed, except for a brief period during WW2 when 4H Clubs were urge to grow hemp for the war, without paying the tax; and changes in the federal gov't led to lawsuits against the monopoly DuPont had in Delaware and they were "forced to split" to enable fair market competition.

Present Day:

Cannabis is an agricultural and medical commodity, with additional uses in education, and personal well-being. It is my opinion, current laws against growing cannabis, research into cannabis, and prohibition of cannabis are a violation of the NH Constitution. Current laws reflect an ignorance of the potential of cannabis to benefit society, as well as a knee-jerk complicity to federal laws, which in essence violates NH's heart and soul, which Senator Ayotte invoked in her first senate speech: "Live Free or Die".

Either a state's Constitution means something, or it doesn't. To enact laws providing often severe penalties for possession or use of the cannabis plant is a violation of Article 83, of the NH State Constitution. If it doesn't mean something, then a a state invites anarchy, since it's laws and regulations in a democracy must abide by it's Constitution Oath. NH claims today that Federal law shapes their position on cannabis; I say the NH Constitution already clearly outlines how NH should regulate cannabis. And it's not doing so!

Currently NH is the only state in NE with seriously draconian laws against cannabis use, growing, possession; not that the laws in other NE states are completely fair, but NH leads the pack in states that issue harsh penalties for cannabis. This is unacceptable when considering the state's Constitution! The Constitution provides for redress of grievances where violation of the Constitution occur. I am officially demanding such redress, and suggest the laws prohibiting cannabis in NH are Unconstitutional.

Yes, I have written to my elected officials, including a e-mail to the NH Judiciary... I have e-mail responses on record. So, NO, I'm not just spouting off... I have put many years into this subject, and have done all I can to correct a wrong in our society - what I believe to be a wrong. The next step is up to my elected officials... either put up or shut up and reform current laws prohibiting use and possession of cannabis. NH could be the model of reform... but will they act? Will they do the right thing? Will they recognize state laws are unconstitutional and correct those laws? Or will they continue to pretend that current regulations and laws are just?

LIVE FREE OR DIE!

UPDATE! News from Canada - "ONTARIO JUDGE DECLARES CRIMINALIZATION OF POT UNCONSTITUTIONAL". "Ontario is one step closer to the legalization of marijuana after the Ontario Superior Court struck down two key parts of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act that prohibit the possession and production of pot."

Now if only New Hampshire will recognize being conservative means what Senator Ayotte reminded us - NH government does not intrude with the rights of it's citizens, meddle in their personal lives, create laws that either put them in danger or, prevents them from achieving their full potential. Not an exact quote, but I'm beginning to understand Politics.