Jack Harer
Well-Known Member
This is a re-post of one I made in another thread, but I wanted to make sure that more people read this. I got to thinking about the legalization issue, the governments position, and was reminded of another very similar situation I was personally involved in. Here it is:
I see no logical reason why Washington has the right to rule any substance illegal for use unless it can be definitively PROVEN to be addictive, thus enabling an addicted person to become a burden to the State. The burden of PROOF of an addictive nature is on the government. We need to be able to get a recognised group or organization to challenge the DEA and the governments position. It CAN be done. Bear with me and I'll show the relevance of the following:
I belonged to a group of High Powered Rocketry enthusiasts called Tripoli Rocketry Org, closely affiliated with the National Rocketry Assn. You've no doubt seen us on the Discovery Channel, STILL enjoying our hobby today. But after 9/11, that was called seriously into question because the newly re-organised BATFE (Formerly the BATF) had placed our primary propellant on the List of Explosive Materials, thus prohibiting the possession of APCP (ammonium perchlorate rocket propellant), and effectively eliminating our ability to launch. We were all scrambling and crying the blues about it, and finally decided that we needed to get together With NAR, and fight this, because APCP is NOT an explosive as defined by the BATFE. The Clubs got together, and out of the membership dues, hired attorneys to fight. Now Tripoli has fewer than 6000 active members, and the NAR has around 30,000 at any given time. A pretty small group. After a 9 year battle, we prevailed, and had APCP removed from the list of controlled Explosives, and we continue to fly.
My logic here is that a very small group of people forced a federal agency to prove it's position in court, and won. The detailed chronology of the case can be found here: http://tripoli.org/News/Internal/BAT...3/Default.aspx
How we can unite, or who should spearhead it, and where the money would come from I have no idea, I just wanted you to know about this landmark case, and maybe take some hope. We could have done what the MJ community is doing and just grouse about our plight, but we took action.
Hopefully, someone who is in a position to implement something like this will read it and get inspired.
JH
I see no logical reason why Washington has the right to rule any substance illegal for use unless it can be definitively PROVEN to be addictive, thus enabling an addicted person to become a burden to the State. The burden of PROOF of an addictive nature is on the government. We need to be able to get a recognised group or organization to challenge the DEA and the governments position. It CAN be done. Bear with me and I'll show the relevance of the following:
I belonged to a group of High Powered Rocketry enthusiasts called Tripoli Rocketry Org, closely affiliated with the National Rocketry Assn. You've no doubt seen us on the Discovery Channel, STILL enjoying our hobby today. But after 9/11, that was called seriously into question because the newly re-organised BATFE (Formerly the BATF) had placed our primary propellant on the List of Explosive Materials, thus prohibiting the possession of APCP (ammonium perchlorate rocket propellant), and effectively eliminating our ability to launch. We were all scrambling and crying the blues about it, and finally decided that we needed to get together With NAR, and fight this, because APCP is NOT an explosive as defined by the BATFE. The Clubs got together, and out of the membership dues, hired attorneys to fight. Now Tripoli has fewer than 6000 active members, and the NAR has around 30,000 at any given time. A pretty small group. After a 9 year battle, we prevailed, and had APCP removed from the list of controlled Explosives, and we continue to fly.
My logic here is that a very small group of people forced a federal agency to prove it's position in court, and won. The detailed chronology of the case can be found here: http://tripoli.org/News/Internal/BAT...3/Default.aspx
How we can unite, or who should spearhead it, and where the money would come from I have no idea, I just wanted you to know about this landmark case, and maybe take some hope. We could have done what the MJ community is doing and just grouse about our plight, but we took action.
Hopefully, someone who is in a position to implement something like this will read it and get inspired.
JH
