Dear Mr. President:
Two weeks ago, after the state of the Union address, where you stated that you would
“Do wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that's what I'm going to do”
I wrote you imploring you to take action to right an injustice that happens every day in America by removing marijuana from the controlled substance list and showing you how ACCORDING TO THE LAW you had the ability to act. You can reread it
here.
Last week, I wrote you and broke down the law you use to persecute and prosecute people and proved that by the very definition of the Controlled Substance Act, marijuana no longer qualified as a controlled substance let alone a Level 1 Controlled Substance in the same category as heroin You can review that here.
Today, I come to you today to ask one question. Will you, as our POTUS, act like a hero or act like a slave? A Hero does what is right even in the face of adversity. A Hero does what is right even when the odds are against him. A Hero does the right thing even when they personally disagree. A slave does his master’s will. He has no responsibility because he is just the means to an end. Today, America needs you to be a hero and do the right thing according to the law and stop the injustices that are occurring every day to thousands of Americans. The outstanding question is will you be that hero? Or will you be a slave to the FAILED policies of past politicians?
I can’t help but believe that as a trained lawyer, you can’t help but be persuaded by a logical and conclusive argument. Isn’t that what you are supposed to do as POTUS? Listen to the facts and act? Personally I don’t understand what you have to think about. The definitions of what is and what isn’t a controlled substance are clear. They are not really subject to interpretation. The process is clear, and yet you fail to act.
I have found that sometimes it helps to make a PRO and CON list of reasons to take action. I thought perhaps it might be helpful here to explore the Pro’s and the Con’s.
PROS
1) Following the law. Under the legal definition of the controlled substance act, marijuana does not meet the legal criteria to be classified as a Controlled Substance. It is morally unconsciousable to use that law to persecute and prosecute people. It’s an injustice and the President of all people is supposed to protect citizens from these types of injustices. It is NOT RIGHT for someone to lose their liberty, their home, their job and their children for possession of marijuana. IT IS NOT RIGHT!
You know all I heard for years when the Republicans were trying to remove President Clinton from office was about following the letter of the law. How it was a bad example for a President who takes a vow to uphold the law, to break it himself. Now inaction on the part of POTUS is not breaking the law, but now that this injustice has been brought to your attention, ignoring it is an action that is worse than anything Bill Clinton did.
2) Bring Congress together. Since 2010, Congress has been hard pressed to work together to accomplish anything substantive. Once marijuana is removed from the controlled substance list, Congress will be forced to act together to tax and regulate this new industry. Perhaps once they work together on this they can find other common ground on how to spend the new tax revenue. But AT THE VERY LEAST THEY WOULD BE ACTUALLY WORKING TOGETHER TOWARDS A COMMON GOAL!
3) New income for Federal Gov’t. Without raising taxes on regular people, you will raise an abundance of new revenue that can be used to pay off our debt, help the long term unemployed or shore up entitlement programs. This move is favored by the American public 3 to 1 in any poll you take even RED states.
4) Job Growth - New industry equals job growth. We need good jobs. There are so many new products that will contribute to improving our economy and providing new and good paying jobs in all areas including manufacturing. It will help farmers because it is a drought resistant crop. There will be an explosion of new industry tied to just one item.
5) Clear out prison system of nonviolent marijuana users. We can relieve overcrowded prisons, save money, and keep more violent offenders in jail longer without marijuana users in prison. Conservative prison wardens and District Attorneys across the country will tell you, that they could do more good and use what they have better, if they did not have to deal with the illegalization of marijuana.
6) DEA can focus on ridding our streets of really dangerous drugs like Heroin and actually have resources to make a difference. They can stop paying federal funds to other country’s to TRY to stop its citizens from growing pot. Money used from growing pot can help raise the lifestyle of farmers in 3rd world countries instead of being used by criminals as a way to purchase guns and promote violence.
7) Take marijuana out of the hands of drug dealers and violent Drug Cartels who don’t care about the age of their customer. Drug Dealers don’t care who they sell to and they don’t care what they sell to kids. People constantly say they are worried about pot in the hands of kids but as long as marijuana is criminalized kids will have complete access to pot and other substances that truly are dangerous.
8) Speaking of Drug dealers, they would have to pay their fair share of taxes. As long as marijuana is illegal, millions of dollars in profits are not being taxed. I personally don’t have this problem but over the years I have often wondered about how the person I buy pot from handles their taxes if they pay them at all.
NOT REMOVING POT FROM THE CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE LIST IS ENABLING DRUG DEALERS TO PROFIT WITHOUT PAYING THEIR FAIR SHARE OF TAXES AND PROMOTING VIOLENCE!
Personally, I think if you concerned about drugs in the hands of kids, you would acknowledge that Ronald Reagans’ “War on Drugs” has been a failure and a huge waste of federal resources. It’s ok to criticize Reagan, you know? After all he was a Republican.
9) You would be seen as a TRUE Hero and GREAT leader by others in the world. It’s ok to right a wrong made in the name of our government especially when you weren’t responsible for its creation in the first place. People admire those who stand up and do what’s right especially when they might not personally agree with it and/or it might not be easy or politically correct. Your stature as our President would definitely rise. President Clinton was respected when he acknowledged the wrongs done to African American men in the past when using them as guinea pigs and infecting them with venereal diseases.
10) Legitimate Medical Research would explode as scientists are finding all kinds of medical reasons to use marijuana from asthma, to cancer, to HIV. Wouldn’t it be ironic that the very substance we villainized for decades would be a valid cure and/or remedy for various common diseases?
This week, there was an article about pot actually helping to stop the spread of HIV. Here’s is the article for your review. But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to Google the subject and see the results.
11) It would address a variety of issues that must be addressed sooner or later because of the differences between federal laws versus state laws. Issues like legal, banking interstate transportation and health insurance that have arisen since 20 states plus Washington DC have decriminalized pot.
12) You would take the issue of pot off the political table. Instead political discussions would be on how to spend all the new tax revenue. It would be very helpful to your party in an election year. You might even win back control of the House. (It’s happened before when people were motivated to participate)
13) It would help the mental health of the nation and might even serve to decrease violence and other drug abuse. I’ve seen it help people with ADD focus, Bipolar maintain, Depression function daily. Perhaps it is time to change the conversation away from gun violence which you will never do anything about to mental health of our country which you can do something about.
CONS
1) More people would be able to have access to marijuana.
Would that be really bad? Perhaps, if more people had access to marijuana there would be less violence in this world? What if lives could be saved because some mentally unhealthy angry person decided to smoke a joint instead of picking up a gun?
I have two grandkids. In these children’s futures they will have to face not just pot but obesity from unhealthy processed food and drinks, cigarettes, alcohol and a variety of drugs and substances whose use can be truly dangerous to their health and their lives. If I could chose for my grandkids, I would choose pot. Here’s why.
POT DOESN'T KILL!!!!! Obesity kills and it is horrible to live with. Soda pop like Coca Cola is more addictive and dangerous for our health than marijuana.
Cigarettes kill and they are TRULY the hardest substance we have today to quit. As a smoker, I know you know this. I have quit smoking cigarettes for 8 years but it is still a struggle. Pot does not have the same effect.
Alcohol kills people and destroys lives and families. Pot does not. Drugs like Heroin, meth, cocaine, pain killers are truly addictive and potentially dangerous. Pot is not.
NO ONE HAS EVER DIED FROM AN OVERDOSE OF POT!
2) More people driving stoned. FYI, people have been driving stoned for decades under the radar. Pot does not have the same effect on people’s ability to drive as alcohol. In fact some people drive better stoned than they do straight because they are not as aggressive or impatient in traffic. I would be willing to personally prove it. However, necessity is the mother of invention and I’m quite certain there will be entrepreneurs who will step up to provide a solution.
3) ALLEGEDLY more unproductive people. In the Netherlands, where pot has been legal for decades, it has been proven that pot does not make people unproductive or poor workers. In fact, it is better than alcohol because it does not leave people hung over or give them diseases like cirrhosis of the liver to drive up health care costs.
People used to say that it would promote lung disease as well. However, several studies have proven otherwise. It seems cannabinoids and cancers don’t like each other.
4) You will be criticized. So what? It won’t be the first or the last time, someone will criticize your actions. However, more people will admire you for having the courage to do the right thing, even if personally you do not wholeheartedly agree. It is still the law and as POTUS, you are supposed to uphold the law. Failure to act because people won’t agree would be an injustice to thousands of people a lot of which most likely voted for you.
Earlier this week, 18 Congressmen sent you a letter asking you to ACT ACCORDING TO THE LAW to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substance Act. Here is their letter.
However, once again, they referenced the Attorney General. Do you see how ridiculous this law is? Even our government representatives don’t understand how it works. But the Attorney General is not involved in the reclassification of any substance ACCORDING TO THE LAW, nor should he be. He is the chief enforcer of the law and should not be involved in the making or changing of the law which is primary a function of the Legislative Branch. Also he is not the interpreter of the law, which is the job of the judicial branch of Government. He is the top enforcer of the law, a member of the Executive Branch, which is why he is not involved in the reclassification process.
AUTHOR NOTE: If anyone (person, attorney, politician or pundit) out there can show me where in the controlled substance act where it gives the Attorney General power to reclassify a substance, I will either send them $20 via PayPal or donate $20 to a charity of their choice. You can just post the page number and paragraph in comments below and IF verified you are correct, I will send the funds. Since it’s not in the bill, I’m not too concerned, but I’m curious what justification makes politicians think the AG is involved.
No, instead the recommendation is made by the Dept. of HHS to the DEA of whether or not a substance should be placed on or removed from the list. If recommended to be placed on the list, the DEA has the discrepancy of which level to classify it ACCORDING TO THE LAW. However, if Dept. of HHS recommendations removal from the list, it must be removed and DEA can no longer persecute or prosecute citizens wrongly.
This week another Congressman, a Democrat from Tennessee, proposed a HORRIBLE BILL here, a TROJAN HORSE, giving Drug Czar power to study the medical uses of marijuana. I’m sure he thinks this will make him more progressive looking to his voters without actually making any changes. It would never pass both houses in Congress in an election year.
However, the Drug Czar does not need to have any MORE POWER to study pot. The Drug Czar needs no more power, PERIOD! Marijuana has been studied for over 45 years using Federal Funds at the University of Mississippi. In fact, they provide marijuana as a legal prescription to a number of citizens as medicine. Since marijuana was classified as a dangerous substance in 1971, the government has spent an obscene amount of money studying it and trying to justify that decision. They haven’t been able to because marijuana is not a dangerous drug nor is it an addictive drug. But they keep spending money and trying.
Additionally the definition of the Controlled substance act does not say that a substance is used for medical use by the Federal government, HHS, FDA or DEA. It simply says “NO MEDICAL USE IN THE US". Since 20 states plus Washington DC have approved it for medical use, the Level one categorization is not applicable.
Nor is it as addictive as cigarettes, processed sugar, Coca Cola, or Bud Light. In fact it is actually safer than any of these products. So the idea that it has a high potential for abuse makes a joke of the law.
Even former DEA agents stand with us. You can read their perspective here. However, when liberals and conservatives, old people and young people, former law enforcement and prosecutors, Republicans and Democrats all come together, THAT, Mr. President, SHOULD TELL YOU SOMETHING. After all how often has that happened during your Presidency?
Other countries and their leaders understand this and are watching. They no longer will be bullied by the DEA or bribed by the US Government's allure of foreign aid. They no longer see any sense in the unnecessary jailing of its citizens just for smoking a joint. Leaders in Canada, Mexico and other Western Hemisphere countries are taking appropriate action.
The question the world is waiting to have answered is will you act and be a hero? Or will you continue to pass the buck to others who have no power and be just another slave to the lies and the politics of the past?
The repeal of prohibition was not the fall of our country even those there were many voices who predicted it would be. The removal of marijuana from the Controlled Substance List will not be the fall of our country. In fact, it just might be its savior.