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Subject:
Medical Marijuana Speech presented May 1, 2004, at
Million Marijuana March (MMM) 2004 Rally in Ogden.
Issue: Medical Marijuana
Date: April 28, 2004
Author: Ken Larsen
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MMM 2004
The war on Iraq is unconstitutional. It is based on fraud. It is costing
America billions of dollars and hundreds of lives. It is keeping Americans
away from their families. It is making the world a more dangerous place. It
is wrong and must be stopped if Americanism is to survive! Who can deny
these obvious facts? Today I want to tell you about another American war.
Like the War on Iraq, it must be stopped if Americanism is to survive. Yes,
I am talking about the American war on medical marijuana. Unfortunately,
this war has been made invisible. My purpose is to help open America's eyes
to the obvious. To begin, let me lay some historical groundwork.
About a hundred years ago, the busybody do-gooders of America petitioned the
national government for a war on alcohol. They met a serious obstacle: the
US Constitution. In those by-gone days before uniform government education
(or as we now say, the dumming down of America), people actually read and
understood the Constitution. They pointed to the Tenth Amendment that
forbade the government from exercising any power not in the Constitution.
They pointed to the list of government powers in Article I, Section 8. There
was no authority for the Federal Government to ban alcohol, or any other
substance. The busybodies had a simple solution: change the Constitution.
And thus, the 18th Amendment was ratified on January 16, 1919. Congress had
its declaration of war on alcohol. Prohibition was born. The unfortunate
consequences are history.
No one can say they were not warned. In 1887, Texas Senator, Roger Q. Mills
prophesied: "Prohibition was introduced as a fraud; it has been nursed as a
fraud. It is wrapped in the livery of Heaven, but it comes to serve the
devil. It comes to regulate, by law, our appetites and our daily lives. It
comes to tear down liberty and build up fanaticism, hypocrisy, and
intolerance. It comes to confiscate by legislative decree the property of
many of our fellow citizens. It comes to send spies, detectives, and
informers into our homes; to have us arrested and carried before courts and
condemned to fines and imprisonments. It comes to dissipate the sunlight of
happiness, peace, and prosperity in which we are now living and to fill our
land with alienations, estrangements, and bitterness. It comes to bring us
evil -- only evil -- and that continually. Let us rise in our might as one
and overwhelm it with such indignation that we shall never hear of it again
as long as grass grows and water runs."
[Thanks to Ben Valdez for the citation.]
Prohibition was a bigger disaster than alcoholism. It was like hitting a
mosquito with a sledge hammer. Alcohol consumption was not significantly
reduced. Violent crime skyrocketed. Drive by shootings were not invented by The Hood, they are as old as Al Capone and other bootleggers of the old
Prohibition days. The murder rate doubled from about 5 per hundred thousand
per year to about 10 per hundred thousand per year. About a decade later,
America came to its senses and repealed the war on alcohol December 5, 1933.
After Prohibition ended, the consumption of alcohol did not increase
significantly and the murder rate soon returned to the pre-Prohibition
levels of about 5 per hundred thousand per year. America breathed a sigh of
relief.
The busybodies knew they could never resurrect the war on alcohol any more
than the South could resurrect slavery. They found a new, more vulnerable
target: Cannabis. After a few years of outrageous media lies, Congress was
ready to declare war on Cannabis. Of course, they couldn't call it Cannabis
or hemp. If they called it Cannabis the pharmacists who dispensed medical
Cannabis would have been opposed. If they called it hemp, then the twine and
cloth industries would have been opposed. They had to call it something that
sounded culturally evil for it's time, like that immoral Jamaican reefer or
that evil Mexican Marijuana. Today that would be like calling Cannabis
something like Taliban hashish or a Jihad Joint. All of a sudden the mind
associates popular evil with a plant. They used the less-known terms reefer
and marijuana. Although the 21st Amendment had repealed any authority of the
National government to wage war on alcohol or any other substance, the
Constitution was no longer a force on the American scene. Do you realize
what that means? Congress was not legally empowered to wage a war on drugs.
Alcohol prohibition taught Americans not to allow our politicians to have
another prohibition on alcohol, or any other mind-altering substance.
Congress legislated the war on Cannabis. They ripped the Constitution. The
Executive Branch immediately began waging war on Cannabis and the
Constitution. The Courts ignored the Constitution and upheld this
unconstitutional war. The Constitution was not amended as with alcohol
prohibition. The authority is not there. The whole so-called "drug war" is,
and always has been, unconstitutional.
The results have been virtually the same as with the war on alcohol.
Cannabis consumption has not gone down. In fact, enormous illegal profits
have stimulated dealers to enhance consumption. The murder rate has risen to
Prohibition levels of about 10 per hundred thousand per year. This time,
America seems unwilling to learn from its mistakes. All three branches of
the Federal government are violating the Constitution and violating the
inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness for those who choose medical
Cannabis.
The unconstitutional war on Iraq is now in its fourteenth month. Several
hundred Americans have unnecessarily died. The unconstitutional war on drugs
has been going on for more than 14 years. Over 200,000, yes, that's right,
do the math, over 200,000 Americans have unnecessarily died because of the
unconstitutional war on drugs. I understand the outrage over the
unconstitutional war on Iraq. I understand the demand for an exit strategy.
What I don't understand is the lack of outrage over the unconstitutional war
on medical marijuana. What I don't understand is the absence of a public
outcry for an exit strategy.
The unconstitutional war on Iraq is costing over a hundred billion dollars
and threatening our economy. The unconstitutional war on drugs is costing
over a hundred billion dollars and threatening our economy. There are well
over a hundred thousand Americans soldiers in Iraq. Many have been there
over a year. They are tired and want to go home. There are ten times as many
Americans in prison because of the unconstitutional drug war. With mandatory
minimum sentencing, many have been there ten times as long
as the soldiers in Iraq. They did not volunteer. They, too, are tired and
want to go home. The unconstitutional war on Iraq is destroying our peaceful
relations with the world and threatens our security. The unconstitutional
war on drugs is destroying our peaceful relations with the world and
threatens our security. The unconstitutional war on Iraq is not reducing the
threat of terrorism. The unconstitutional war on drugs is not reducing drug
use and abuse. We must bring an end to both of these unconstitutional wars
before they bring an end to us. Is America ready to put survival above ego?
There is not much a Governor of Utah can do officially about the
unconstitutional war on Iraq. There is a great deal a Governor of Utah can
and must do about the unconstitutional war on drugs. When I am elected
Governor of the State of Utah, my oath of office will require me to
terminate this madness. As chief executive of the State, I will order an end
to all police efforts to regulate the possession or use of Cannabis. In
addition, I will order the prosecution of any federal officer who violates
his or her oath of office to obey the Constitution. It will be my solemn
duty to protect the civil rights of any person residing within the State of
Utah against any attempt to enforce any federal drug law within the borders
of our state. When they attempt to enforce unconstitutional laws, they are
no longer federal officers, but criminals themselves. I will do what I can
to protect Utahns from these criminals.
You may think I have no chance of winning. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps
the winner will be a Republican or a Democrat. Republicans are over here on
the right. They are stomping on the Constitution with the right foot.
Democrats are over here on the left, stomping on the Constitution with the
left foot. When you choose between them, you are choosing whether to have
the Constitution stomped on by the right foot or the left foot. Do you
really think either of those parties cares about your right to your harmless
pursuit of happiness? This isn't about me winning. It is about you winning.
You win when you vote for what you want. We all lose when you vote for what
you really don't want.
Let me tell you a story. An old man was owner and master of a cotton
plantation back in the days of American slavery. He was ready for
retirement. He wanted to turn the plantation over to one of his twin sons
but he could not decide which. John and George were equal in management
skills and experience. He loved them both the same. Finally he had an idea.
He called all his slaves together and announced that he would let the slaves
decide which son would be their new master. The two sons spoke to the
slaves. John K. said he should be the new master because his wife was more
beautiful. George B. said it should be him because his hunting dog was more
handsome. Neither of them mentioned the work or lives of the slaves because
they did not disagree.
"Hallelujah," shouted one of the slaves. "Of all the slaves on all the
plantations in all the South, we are the only ones who are free to choose
our master."
"Nonsense," said another. "I am going to write the word 'freedom' on my
ballot and I'm going to teach the others how to write it."
"That's stupid," said the first. "Your vote will not be counted. It is
better to participate in the choice between John and George. At least then
your vote will count."
"My vote will count to me," said the second.
You can vote for a Democratic or Republican Governor and help the slaves of
Utah choose their next master. Or, you can count your vote for freedom. I
say vote to restore the Constitution. To Hell with choosing between masters.
I am not a newcomer to this struggle for Personal Choice. I have been
fortunate enough to work with many others in such groups as Mood For A Day,
Hempower Utah, THC and Utahns for Compassionate Use. I was the chairman of
both initiative petitions in Utah on behalf of medical marijuana. I founded
the Church of the Hemp Goddess to show that hemp can be an exercise of
religion protected by the First Amendment. I have helped with booths at the
State Fair opposing the drug war since before my campaign for Governor in
1996. I invite you all to join me this year in our booth for Personal
Choice.
But first, I invite you to join me at the
Personal Choice Celebration and
State Convention on Saturday, May 22, in Fairmont Park. Check our web page
for details: http://www.personalchoice.org
Two of us will be running for the Personal Choice Party nomination for
Governor. The other candidate is Lawrence Rey Topham. You can read about him
on his website at
http://www.geocities.com/webnetalert. You can read about me at
http://kencan.personalchoice.org.
Please go and read. Then, if you think I should be the candidate of the PCP,
I hope you will bring your friends to vote for me at the State Convention on
May 22. If you prefer Larry, you will want to bring your friends to vote for
him. If you come, and you are a registered voter, you will be allowed to
vote. You can fill out a voter registration form at the convention.
Please don't walk away today without some literature and a plan of action.
Every single one of us is needed to make the difference for ultimate victory
over American tyranny. Which ever way it goes, whatever you do or don't do
might make the difference. I don't have all the answers. I don't even have
all the questions. I can only hope that if I keep trying, I might do
something right and help in some small way to make that difference for
freedom and peace.
Thank you,
Ken Larsen, Candidate for
Governor, Personal Choice Party
856 East 100 South #2
Salt Lake City, UT 84102
801-533-8658
kencan@personalchoice.org
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