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The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. United State Constitution, Art. I Sec. 9 Par. 2

"Dissent is the Highest form of Patriotism" -- Howard Zinn

Possession of an ounce or less is nothing more than an "infraction" here in California. $100 dollar fine ... that's it. Used to be, possession of ANY amount could land you in jail or prison. Now, state law dictates ... yes DICTATES, that medical users MUST be allowed to be in possession of up to eight ounces of manicured bud. Some counties allow much more. So, regardless of what county or city officials would like to do, they MUST allow that eight ounces or be in violation of state law.

Just as a point of interest, up untill last year, the Highway Patrol was confiscating marijuana from medical users if they found it in their cars. They were citing federal law. The state attorney general finally notified the head of the Highway Patrol to abide by state law and not federal law in these cases. Therefore, the Highway Patrol was stopped in their tracks and the stash of medical users are safe. Still illegal to drive under the influence though.

Vi

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Damned right I'm an equal opportunity offender, I'm a Conservative!

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"I suppose I always knew America would eventually break the planet, like some ghastly, hyperactive toddler that gets hold of a mobile phone and then smashes it repeatedly against the edge of a table". Quote from british journalist.

What is sad is that most smokers don't see the impact decriminalization would have on our economy and culture.

Imagine all the taxpayer funds currently wasted on the War on Drugs used for more constructive public use. It's in the billions.

Imagine a world where we can grow in our backyards without fear. Picture buying a pack of joints at the local 7-11. Think of all of the revenue from the legal sale of cannabis.

Imagine hemp being re-introduced. Hemp could save small scale agriculture - the family farm. Think of the jobs created as hemp is used for food, fuel, paper and textiles.

Imagine cannabis being used as a legitimate medicine everywhere. I have relatives who would never consider using cannabis no matter how sick they were or how much it could help them. The government propaganda works (and how much is wasted on that?). But those same relatives would use it if it were legally prescribed by a doctor.

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The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. United State Constitution, Art. I Sec. 9 Par. 2

"Dissent is the Highest form of Patriotism" -- Howard Zinn

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The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. United State Constitution, Art. I Sec. 9 Par. 2

"Dissent is the Highest form of Patriotism" -- Howard Zinn

And you missed the point of my response. You stated what made you sad. I stated what makes me sad.

I didn't respond to a post 'further down the page', I responded to the one I quoted.

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No truer words. They're STILL a pain in the ass on the first order, absolutely nothing has changed since you left.

That being said, I'd like to address your comment regarding the "voting one issue" thing. While I agree, this is not so different from, for instance, gun owners voting according to that one issue. Or anti-abortion activists voting based on that one issue. Or someone voting based solely on Iraq. I'm sure you can extrapolate from there.

The problem, if there is one here, is that this is a forum whose existence is based on that one issue, so I think one might expect the pot question to be the main issue of the day here. On aquarium-keeping sites CITES and import/export regs are the issues of the day.

Finally, I believe that a big part of the reason why voters get hung up on a single issue is because few, if any candidates are ever in complete agreement with the individual. I count myself among those numbers, and while I don't vote on a single issue, I find myself in disagreement with RP on certain particular issues. However, I am able to discern and not allow those issues on which we disagree to muddy the waters. Lots of others, though, find the whole thing a mess and overwhelming. This, coupled with the human propensity to simplify to single causes brings us to this state.

Ok! I've got a baby to go gawk at and I need to go over my dive gear. Just wanted to address your observation.

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Ron Paul doesn't deliver babies.
He reads them the Bill of Rights until they crawl their way to freedom!

what do you have for dive gear seamaiden(if you dont mind me asking)??? i also dive

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"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Ghandi........
"We must learn to live together as brothers, or perish together as fools." MLK

I have a mix of stuff, things that I bought years ago for my first scuba course (North Orange County ROP course to teach you to become a dive instructor), before my first trip to Bali, and while we were actually on Bali. Not pretty, but it's fairly sturdy and it all works.

ScubaPro UWATEC Air regulator, OLD and beat up. I brought my fucking Dacor expensive piece of shit snorkel that broke almost as soon as it was in the water (HELLO! If you're gonna put a clearing valve in the thing, make sure it stays ON the snorkel, mkay?), today I got a nice, cheap ScubaPro. It'll probably last me years and years. I brought an extra but lost the mask clip a long time ago. Wanna know which snorkel I can still use? The one I bought in 1992. Not the four year old one, no way. The one that's almost decades old, for fuck's sake.

SeaQuest BC, couple different pairs of fins, brought my Mares with me for this trip but I have an old pair of Seaquest at home. Good thing, we're lining up at least one strong current dive, but what I really want to hit is at least one of the sinkholes around the island. Um.. I'm drawing a blank on the wetsuit, it's a 3mil spring suit. I cannot remember what mask I've got, I think it's a Mares but I'd have to go out where the gear is and I'm just not a-gonna right now.

I don't care so much about brand as I do about functionality. I generally prefer more simple over more complex. There's a good dive shop we stopped in at today off base, MDA (Micronesia Divers Association), not huge but really good prices considering our location.

Yesterday we went snorkeling off Gab Gab beach here on base. Fringing reef that meets up with a dredged out channel, ok? So, it's really shallow, even at high tide, to get out to and over to the channel side. Then, once you get over OH MY GOD, Wetard, you would not BELIEVE the coral growth, the fish.. MAN it was just incredible. And snorkeling you don't have a time limit except for daylight, ya know? Couldn't go as deep as I might have liked, but still, it was just amazing. EASY 50'-75' visibility, easy. If it hadn't been getting dark I would have stayed out there.

First thing I found a snowflake moray hunting on the inner reef, just like I did my first day on Bali (but that was a sea krate). He's pokin' around and then he notices me watching him. He poked his head out and started this odd jaw-snapping I've never seen before. But, he didn't have to ask me twice to back off, the only moray that's bitten me are those damned snowflakes (they are not among the more mellow species, to say the least). This guy was pretty fat, so I backed off til he felt comfortable and we watched each other for about fifteen minutes or so, then a snapper joined us, just hanging out, then another, and then Dave and son showed up and we decided there was more to see than Mr. Snowflake.

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Ron Paul doesn't deliver babies.
He reads them the Bill of Rights until they crawl their way to freedom!