THE DOPING OF AMERICA - JOSE GUERENO ORTIZ

Jose Guereno Ortiz was ex-Marine Corp, having served military duty in Iraq. He was back in the states in the mid-west working in a copper mine. He has a wife and child. (click photo for source).

Photos; Source: Dailymail.co.uk

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Jose Guereno Ortiz is dead. He was killed during a SWAT raid on his house while his wife and child cowered horrified in a corner. There was scant warning of the assault. Jose only awoke from a nap with his wife warning him people were outside, and it looked like they were a gang about to break in. Jose stood and grabbed his AK-47 (what ex-marine would be without one?).

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He had but seconds as the door to his house blew apart and he was gunned down on video by several law enforcement agents believing they were under attack. Jose took 22 rounds to his body, over 70 shots fired. His weapon was on safe. No officers were shot at.

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The reason for the attack was "suspected narcotics". It was thought he was in possession of marijuana. How much, what he supposedly did with it, any proof, there's no record that any facts ever existed to prove the raid justifiable on the Ortiz residence.

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Police based the operation on a traffic stop several months prior when a relative was pulled over, and according to the subsequent subpoena, "the vehicle smelled of marijuana..." though no marijuana was found. Jose was a passenger in the vehicle. The subpoena that ultimately led to Jose's death is rife with innuendo about seemingly everyone but Jose. All of it seems to suggest an obsession by local law enforcement with marijuana, a suggested link to cross-border trafficking, but little hard fact. A "fishing expedition", in my opinion!

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Click on this snippet of the subpoena, for the "probable cause" that led to Jose' death.:

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The Ortiz the subpoena refers to the most, isn't Jose, it was his brother!

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Jose at best from what I can tell from the subpoena simply enjoyed using marijuana, and enjoyed hanging out with his extended family. And for that he's dead, his own family minus a father and husband. And we in this country think that's okay. 

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Even in cases of child abuse, rape or murder we don't go busting down doors like this and shoot a man protecting his home (we assume and one is innocent until proven guilty). 

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This is clearly a case of abuse of power, of madness. Reefer madness, and it really needs to stop. 

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The local district attorney says police were justified in the killing. Jose was armed. That law enforcement gave notice of the intended search... 

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You tell me... was this death justified? Was the marijuana involved something so dangerous someone had to die? Is this event one that shows rational thought behind a life-changing action? Does it justify prohibition of a natural plant? A plant used casually and medicinally for millions of years? 

THE DOPING OF AMERICA - RALPH HUNTER

Thank-you to fellow blogger and friend, Slam Dunks, for revealing my true identity. I was caught quite by surprise. I'm in the midst of my "Doping of America" posts. I guess it was meant to be.

But, the questions escalate...

Are you heterosexual or homosexual?
Are you Republican or Democrat?
You're not a Libertarian, are you?

Do you support tax wavers to the wealthy and those politically connected? Do you believe America has a drug problem?

Wow... such questions for someone like me.

I'll take the fifth on this...

Credit; Slam Dunks for fingering me...

Credit: MugMe.Org

So, Yes, I'm Ralph Hunter, AKA BobKat...

The feds are following me, the DEA (Dream Enforcement Administration), the ONDCP, and Atom Ant...

I continue to evade them, esp. Atom Ant...

Seriously, all I ever wanted was a chance at a fair life. A chance to be me. To live my life. A life I learned growing up, and in college. I was led to believe that by age 25, I would make my own choices... that starting at 18 when leaving home your life is your own.

Someone forgot to impress upon me the trial of conformity and tradition. By age 25 I can say, I wasn't doing very well.

It was the mid-hippie culture had met it's mark, and people were in general, laid-back.It was a few years after the Shafer Commission's recommendation that cannabis be deregulated and legalized; a Blue Ribbon committee assembled by President Richard (Tricky Dick) Nixon in 1970, it's findings were largely ignored, and completely dismissed by Pres. Nixon who declared and got, the "War on Drugs"; the devil in the details,  marijuana. That was when Reefer Madness truly got a face.

We were cool back then, back-to-nature types then, frequented natural food stores known as a Food Coop. It's where I got the herbs for the Witch-Doctor concoctions I brewed up back then. The closest thing to a freedom I've ever experienced, nothing like today. It was the birthplace of organic foods. I brewing herbal teas long before Celestial seasonings came along.

There was a brief 4-5 years during which a totally sane - within reason - society existed. Life was reasonably good, other than the reported drug-busts in a college community. Yet we had a president, Jimmy Carter who seems to this day to have had a true eye on Democracy... best President ever. During his term he legalized home-brewed wine, beer and cannabis. The first two were overlooked when the 18th Amendment was overturned by the 21st. The latter, well the DEA cried foul, and struck down the law. Wow. Just like that.

Overall, all I feel I got was a .22 rifle aimed at me (figuratively speaking). And for many of the unfortunate ones of US, we rest in peace. Ironically, Peace is all we ever wanted.

So, yeah... I love cannabis seeds... yum yum...

So do I and millions of others like me.

I love freedom and the First Amendment... but would like my seeds too.

Ralph

THE DOPING OF AMERICA - PART FOUR - LETTER FROM WASHINGTON...

HAPPY 420!!! (ok, 5 days late)

I've been busy.

Now from the White House...

In Response to a Petition sponsored by President Obama, the "We The People" public petitions forum he enacted, President Obama urged citizens to petition the White House on any subject meaningful to them. It turned out, cannabis legalization was near the top of the numbers for signatures by people asking to end the madness that cannabis prohibition has brought about!

By cannabis, I'm referring to the plant called marijuana, or by legal decree, marihuana.

It seems of benefit to a class of people, law-makers, CEO's, investors and aliens to continue to call cannabis, marijuana. Why, I don't know. In general we as a society avoid name-calling. We like to call an onion an onion, not a tear-jerker!

Well the following White House response to We The People cannabis reform initiative should leave some of you reassured and feeling better. It's not from the President himself, but one of his trolls.

I felt it was appropriate to share with my readers the e-mail I received based on the We The People cannabis petitions - there were several; And the following is an e-mail from the White-House I received in regards to those petitions.

I've interjected my opinion, in bright red.

Our Government on the subject of Hemp, Marijuana and legalization...

What We (the White House) Have to Say About Marijuana and Hemp Production
By Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy

America’s farmers deserve our Nation’s help and support to ensure rural America’s prosperity and vitality. Federal law prohibits human consumption, distribution, and possession of Schedule I controlled substances. Hemp and marijuana are part of the same species of cannabis plant. While most of the THC in cannabis plants is concentrated in the marijuana, all parts of the plant, including hemp, can contain THC, a Schedule I controlled substance. The Administration will continue looking for innovative ways to support farmers across the country while balancing the need to protect public health and safety.

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The Administration will continue looking for innovative ways to support farmers across the country...balancing the need to protect public health and safety. To accomplish this goal millions are/have been given misdemeanor sentences for simple possession, millions more are incarcerated, ordered into rehap, lose their children, their jobs, their humanity. And many around the world die and continue to die as a result of these zero tolerance regulations. 

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Does the federal government really believe people will be hurt, let alone be tempted to smoke the near-beer equivalent of pot? Hemp is prohibited because of minor traces of THC? Wow... heavy! I'm sure American farmers are breathing a sigh of relief on that statement. 

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Oh, and the human body manufactures it's own scant trace of THC, in the brain, so cut down the human race while you're enforcing your regulations that make zero sense.

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For more about what we have to say about marijuana, please see the President's National Drug Control Strategy, as well as this earlier petition response below:

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Yeah, I read it. Essentially, there is the worse stuff clogging our lives than Satan.

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What We (Gil Kerlikowske*) Have to Say About Legalizing Marijuana

*By Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy

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When the President took office, he directed all of his policymakers to develop policies based on science and research, not ideology or politics. So our concern about marijuana is based on what the science tells us about the drug's effects.

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So why still call it marijuana? Why not call it what it is??? Cannabis. As it was known prior to 1937. The term marijuana is based on racial prejudice - towards Mexicans, dating back to the 1920's. It's time to be respectful.

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According to scientists at the National Institutes of Health- the world's largest source of drug abuse research - marijuana use is associated with addiction, respiratory disease, andcognitive impairment. We know from an array of treatment admission information and Federal data that marijuana use is a significant source for voluntary drug treatment admissions and visits to emergency rooms. Studies also reveal that marijuana potency has almost tripled over the past 20 years, raising serious concerns about what this means for public health – especially among young people who use the drug because research shows their brains continue to develop well into their 20's. Simply put, it is not a benign drug.

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Nice propaganda... but the NIH is a branch of the Federal government. Isn't your claim a bit unethical? Bias and a conflict of interest? The NIH is literally, with scant exceptions the only lab allowed to conduct research into cannabis, and it has already stated cannabis has zero medical benefits - that dispite tons of opposing research. 

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Also, per Schedule One protocol, "it is forbidden to conduct research..." for beneficial uses of a Schedule One drug. Period. So how will the NIH help? How can they even be trusted? 


The answer. They can't be trusted. That to me is a big problem.

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Like many, we are interested in the potential marijuana may have in providing relief to individuals diagnosed with certain serious illnesses. That is why we ardently support ongoing research into determining what components of the marijuana plant can be used as medicine. To date, however, neither the FDA nor the Institute of Medicine have foundsmoked marijuana to meet the modern standard for safe or effective medicine for any condition.

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Since when has the federal government "cared about the potential marijuana may have..."? The language here is extremely calculated. "Serious illness". "...ardently support ongoing research." "...smoked marijuana..." 

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Seriously, the federal government can't even talk brownies. Unlike tobacco, cannabis can be eaten, and used in unlimited ways. It's a plant, and it's one of the safest plants known to humans.

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Further, the We The People petitions were not about "help from the federal government, but rather, get out of the We The People's faces about cannabis, decriminalize it now. We really were not asking for your help, other than reform federal marihuana laws!!!

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As a former police chief, I recognize we are not going to arrest our way out of the problem. We also recognize that legalizing marijuana would not provide the answer to any of the health, social, youth education, criminal justice, and community quality of life challenges associated with drug use.

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You recognize? How is then that you recognize the opposite of the obvious??? Prohibition and the dangers of cannabis were artificially created, are still unsupported, and an illegal act that has created a humanitarian crisis for decades; the Federal Government simply cannot pass a laws that outlaws Nature. They cannot. The apple that Eve ate may have sentenced us to eventual death, it did not give a government the right to damn us too, nor prohibit a plant we already paid the ultimate price to possess! It is an inalienable right (of adults) to possess and use and grow all plants given to us by God. We live in a Country that boasts, among Liberty and  Freedom, that in God We Trust.


Do we???

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Making millions of dollars every minute, from busting otherwise law-abiding adult citizens, for plant possession and/or use, sale or growing, and making these people criminals, just doesn't add up or make any sense. Especially with the violence associated along with the War on Drugs. So, sorry, but I don't see how the White house is helping! To me they create a lot of hurt.

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That is why the President's National Drug Control Strategy is balanced and comprehensive, emphasizing prevention and treatment while at the same time supporting innovative law enforcement efforts that protect public safety and disrupt the supply of drugs entering our communities. Preventing drug use is the most cost-effective way to reduce drug use and its consequences in America. And, as we've seen in our work through community coalitions across the country, this approach works in making communities healthier and safer. We're also focused on expanding access to drug treatment for addicts. Treatment works. In fact, millions of Americans are in successful recovery for drug and alcoholism today. And through our work with innovative drug courts across the Nation, we are improving our criminal justice system to divert non-violent offenders into treatment.

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Innovative, my ass. Time to outlaw coffee addicts. Big money-maker there! Just call it "DRUGS", like you do with all substances you really don't understand. I do know myself what a "drug" is - a chemical that has an effect on a living thing. That pretty much includes everything on our planet! Wow. What potential... controlling the planet.


Coca-Cola wouldn't like it either, would it? Remembering 1904... covered in my last post. 

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Our commitment to a balanced approach to drug control is real. This last fiscal year alone, the Federal Government spent over $10 billion on drug education and treatment programs compared to just over $9 billion on drug related law enforcement in the U.S.

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Anything less than 0 dollars would be my vote! Thank-you!

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THE DOPING OF AMERICA - PART THREE - THINGS RECONSIDERED

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I've been absent for awhile, yes. Life kind of gets in the way sometimes, if you know what I mean? It's been a whirlwind of stuff happening. Lots of things...

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And I felt obligated to post something after several weeks of not writing.

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Premature.

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There was some news today, a drug-bust gone bad in NH. A police chief is dead, several officers wounded, a reputed EMT that sold steroids from his home, with a woman who is also dead and not being publicly disclosed. The drug bust was BIG... Members of the team included police officers from many towns, without warning they burst into the alleged drug-dealer's home, causing and encountering "immediate gunfire".

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And why wouldn't they? No matter how stealthy a bust is, your job in law enforcement is to invade a home and seize a substance. In the case of Jose Guerena Ortiz, an ex-marine who had served several tours of duty in Iraq, had returned home and become a miner, marijuana madness caused a similar hail of bullets, when he was gunned down in his home while his wife and young son watched in horror as a SWAT team burst into their home with little warning. And with a storm of gun-fire.

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He took over 70 bullets to his body... for suspected sale and possession of marijuana. I'll cover his case in my next post.

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It's at this point, I stop and wonder, why does/did this ever happen. Why has the violence common in Mexico, come to the US now, and my neighbors? Has the threat from steroids, marijuana and other personal substance consumables increased? It hasn't... And what is there to gain with newspapers glorifying such violence? "Drug Bust and the Death of a Police Chief in Greenland, NH"? Without complete and comprehensive information?

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The person allegedly selling steroids was reputed to be an EMT/firefighter. The woman, no one is talking about her - she's simply a Jane Doe at this point. That's not what I call transparency. It's collusion and delusion on the part of our safety net, aka, law-enforcement and our law-makers that such violence occurs.

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Did we learn nothing from from the era of the 18th Amendment which banned production of alcohol? Do we really believe firefights over plants and personal consumption of drugs is worth the deaths of police and civilians?

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The media blatantly hid the kind of drug that law-enforcement busted that house in Greenland, NH for... resulting in several deaths. They capitalized on the intrigue! Do the deaths of law enforcement officers and civilians serve to protect society when it involves illegal drugs? Shouldn't the substance be weighed in accurately, much like murder is, for a cause of reasonable threat? The couple may have been involved in the sale of a illegal drug, but when was the last time you saw such violence in the case of a child abuser, a internet hacker, so many similar crimes for which common sense is in charge.

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To me it's wrong.

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It mostly comes down to the fact that 1% of society makes the rules of what the real game is... whether real or not real; we the other 99% have no choice but to follow, do our jobs, stand in line. To get into lock-step.

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We're taught today that drugs are bad. We're also taught drugs are good. We're told there are drugs bad enough that police must take people who use and sell them down, like Al Capone, Bonnie and Clyde.

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Now, can you imagine something like this happening in 1909?

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It did, but it resulted in zero busts, and no deaths. In fact the biggest bust in history caused hardly a ripple in the space/time continuum.

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The Pure Food and Drug Act passed June 30, 1906. It became law. Brought about the following:

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In 1909, the federal gov't banned the sale of Coca-Cola. Not because cocaine was in Coca Cola any longer, that had changed in 1903, but rather, Coca Cola replaced the cocaine with caffeine in it's soft-drink. And the federal gov't busted Coke! Banned it!!!

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We're not speaking about coffee-beans here, which is considered crude plant product; btw. Raw plant material technically, by law, there can be no law. A drug can only be a drug if processed in a lab.

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Caffeine is a drug. It is. While coffee is a simply a natural plant product, "slow-roasted, and freeze-dried to perfection". Much like cannabis should be...

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The case was United States vs Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola. The court upheld the ban initially, until Coca-Cola struck a deal behind closed doors with the gov't, agreeing to reduce the amount of caffeine they added to their soft-drink.

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In a future post I hope to put together the law and the control the federal gov't actually has over crude plant material. Most of the right of law-enforcement comes from politicians who often have ulterior motives passing laws.

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That this drug bust involved steroids seems to me important, that immediate disclosure to the public ensue. Many commenters on news-sites, wrote expecting it to be marijuana. No one knew.

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This is what I mean by: "The Doping of America".

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Who do we trust, who do we believe?

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Think about it.