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Jan. 4, 2007 The first law outlawing marijuana was passed by business criminals in Texas who wanted to use it to suppress Mexican workers. Mexican laborers couldn't always afford alcohol so in the evening they smoked marijuana, and the white businessmen decided they could control Mexicans and make them easier to exploit, if they could throw them in jail upon any trivial excuse. The federal government effectively made marijuana illegal exactly the same year prohibition was lifted, obviously saving many jobs in law enforcement. Ever since, the government has wasted millions of dollars trying to enforce unenforceable laws because it makes politicians look good when they are tough on drug abuse. Ironically, many of these same politicians take bribes from pharmaceutical companies in exchange for allowing them the right to addict millions of Americans to pills that are far more harmful than marijuana. The war against drugs illustrates the stupidity of Americans. When I was in college Cheech and Chong were my heroes and I emulated them. In their hilarious counterculture movies--Up in Smoke, Cheech and Chong's Next Movie, Nice Dreams, and Things are Tough All Over--they made fun of law enforcement, satirically pointing out the hypocrisy of the DEA with the character of Sergeant Stedanko. John Ashcroft, Bush's first fascistic Attorney General, didn't like this portrayal. Remember, this is a guy who before 9-11 ranked the threat of terrorism a lower priority than the dangers of teenaged masturbation, and he had to cover up a naked work of art with a curtain. He's an out-of-touch nut. But he had power and he used that power to persecute Tommy Chong. Mr. Chong had a business selling artistically designed bongs on the internet. According to California state law, it was a legal business--he applied for, paid for, and received a business license. However, in 1994 the federal government passed a law outlawing the sale of drug paraphernalia. It was never enforced because it was a poorly written law and defining drug paraphernalia was difficult. Nine years later, the Bush administration (a carbon copy of Sergeant Stedanko when it comes to incompetence) decided to enforce it. They sent a team of heavily armed thugs to Mr. Chong's house, and they raided it in the early morning hours. Picture this: a dozen men in flak jackets and carrying assault rifles against an aging comedian in his pajamas and his sleepy fashion model wife. Ridiculous. There was no trial. The law was weak and there was a chance it wouldn't stand up in court, but the federal government didn't give Mr. Chong a choice. The government threatened to prosecute his wife and his son unless he agreed to plead guilty. His wife had nothing to do with the business, although she did cosign on the loan that started it. No way would a real man risk putting his family in jail, so he agreed to plead guilty and he spent nine months in a federal prison--an outrageous result. Even the prosecutor was embarrassed by the severity of the sentence. Mr. Chong writes about his experience behind bars in his book, Meditations from the Joint. The persecution of Tommy Chong is a case study of why I hate the Bush administration. With a nod toward Nazi Germany they believe in silencing dissent. Make no mistake about it--their case against Tommy Chong had nothing to do with bongs and everything to do with attacking an image right wing extremists find offensive. ------------ About the author Mark Gelbart: My book, Talk Radio, is a black comedy about a radio talk show host who gets kidnapped and psychologically tortured by a loser. www.mark-gelbart.com Email: agelbart@aol.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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