Fw: Randy Forbes Republican 4th District Va.
Chuck Johnson
My name is Charles Johnson; I am a Navy Veteran and a retired federal law enforcement officer. I also worked at the state level in law enforcement prior to my military experience. Over my 26 plus years of service I have seen many things. I have interacted with every kind of criminal you can imagine, every kind! I’ve seen grown men curled up in a fetal position crying and in pain from drug addiction. I’ve seen heroin over doses first hand. I’ve carried wounded comrades on stretchers. I saw first hand the bombing of one of our embassies while deployed over seas. Of all the place and things I’ve seen I never saw or heard of a marijuana overdose or a marijuana addict.
I always encourage citizens young and old to abstain from any illegal activity including marijuana use. I am however an advocate of marijuana reform. Based on what I have and have not seen I am seeking the support of other citizens and legislators in dispelling myths about marijuana and changing drug laws where they pertain to marijuana use by adults. I see the myths as:
1. Marijuana is like meth, crack/cocaine or heroin and should be a schedule I
narcotic.
There has never been a marijuana overdose or addict ever.
2. Marijuana has no medicinal value.
The FDA approved a drug called marinol which is synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
3. Industrial hemp is the same as other plants in the genus cannabis
(marijuana).
Hemp has less than 1% THC yet it is classified along with marijuana because it is in the genus family cannabis. This plant can be used to make paper, construction materials, clothing, plastic and an endless supply of other environmentally friendly products. Hemp is an excellent alternative to tobacco in our country and poppies in places like Afghanistan.
4. The war on drugs is a success.
The war on drugs is an immense failure. It is a war on citizens with an inexcusable amount of collateral damage (marijuana victims).
I see the change we need as simply treating marijuana as we do alcohol and hemp as a commodity. Our current laws provide marijuana to citizens including our youth on nearly every street corner in America. In this way we make available to citizens including our youth every illegal substance and activity imaginable. We are placing hard working tax paying other wise law abiding people in the presence of persons involved in criminal enterprises. We are building prisons and locking up non violent citizens at a greater rate than any country in the world.
We need legislation to allow medical marijuana, prevent responsible citizens from incarceration for possession of marijuana and allow the farming of hemp.
Thank you for your valued time,
Charles Johnson
Dinwiddie, Va.
Johnny Tynes
letter from Boucher, mine was far less negative. He really didn't
seem to have an opinion either way. As for Randy Forbes, he looks
entirely hopeless. His long sense dis proven marijuana views are not
going to be swayed. He referred to Marijuana and "all other schedule
one drugs." He apparently does not realize that the schedule system
was not put together by doctors. It was put together by psychiatrists
and ill-informed politicians. I suppose the only option at this
point, is for the good people in Forbes' district to vote him out of
office in the next election. I would suggest working with the
campaign of his opponent and lobbying for sound marijuana policy. If
you can't change the congressman's mind, then change the
congressman. I will be printing out a series of letters and having
people in my town sign them, and mail them to the congressman in
bristol VA, and bristol TN. I have not communicated with the TN
congressman yet, but i am moving to that side of town in a few days,
and will focus my work on his office.
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Chuck
doing wrong he will see the light. I sent this letter to the
Washighton Post and my local paper the progress index regarding Forbes
and a few other crazies.
What Are They Thinking?
I was very disappointed to receive a letter from our Congressman,
Republican Rep. Randy Forbes recently in which he stated he is
unalterably opposed to marijuana legalization for medicinal or
recreational use. I was mostly disappointed, because in his letter he
was not familiar with drug classification in the United States by the
Drug Enforcement Agency. He referred to cocaine/crack as a schedule I
narcotic and looped it in with meth, PCP, marijuana, heroin and, as he
put it, 100 other schedule I narcotics. Marijuana is a Schedule I
narcotic, however cocaine, even in its form as crack, is a schedule II
narcotic, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. This is one of the
reasons we should be reaching out to our representatives and citizens.
I think education and awareness is the best way to resolve this part
of the war on drugs. Everyone knows cocaine/crack is worse than
marijuana. I have seen physical addiction and over doses first hand. I
have never seen a marijuana over dose or heard of physical addiction
to marijuana. I think any person who assumes the unalterable position
that marijuana is worse than crack can not be effective in resolving
drug issues. I was also disappointed to hear him say; “Federal Health
Officials believe that the public is better served if science, rather
than the ballot box or the courts, were used to judge a drug’s
utility”. I didn’t vote for a guy who wanted to do what he thought
would be best for the constituency. I voted for a guy who would listen
to and represent the wishes of the constituency with an open mind and
from an informed perspective. Republicans who share this unalterable
view, such as Republican Rep. Mark Kirk from Chicago who has called
for federal legislation to sentence certain first-time marijuana
offenders to up to 25 years in prison, are very disturbing. Locking up
non-violent people and throwing away the key is immoral. What’s more
disturbing, is that citizens in our communities are being encouraged
to spy on each other and threatened. They are told to be on the look
out and contact private e-mail addresses if they see marijuana growing
on their property or someone else’s, otherwise, they could lose their
property through forfeiture laws. Marijuana users are also portrayed
as evil doers who smoke marijuana in front of their children. A lot of
people would say if you use tobacco or drink in front of your children
you’re a bad parent. I personally do not share that point of view. It
is a matter of personal freedom and it’s time for the elected
officials to listen, learn and represent the citizens. There is a lot
of stepped up rhetoric about marijuana these days. I hope most people
are too smart to listen to the William Randolph Hurst propaganda
tactics. This is 2009 not 1932. There were 50,000 alcohol poisonings
in the United States last year. There were 435,000 deaths from
tobacco, 7,600 from non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as
aspirin and 0 overdoses or poisonings from marijuana. I can not
believe our elected leaders don’t have anything better to do. They
encourage us to spy on each other and report back to them. They
threaten us with up to 25 years in prison for non-violent offenses.
They deny citizens who are seriously ill a little comfort and relief
from pain. To take an unalterable and uninformed position on other
people’s freedoms, privacy and comfort is unacceptable and we need to
vote these elected officials out.
Charles Johnson
Dinwiddie Virginia
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Jason Matthys
guard in Virginia politics, Chuck's representative will never be
swayed if you wrote 1,000 letters to him. Science does support our
views, so be sure to remind these people of it. Mention the Shaffer
comission (comissioned by president nixon) during the 70's which
concluded that harsh penalties for marijuana were unjustified.
We must build a large group of anti prohibition activists, this is how
we will sway opinions. We have to be smart though, and I dont think
that Legalization is first on the list. Talk to your representatives
about MEDICAL MARIJUANA first, throwing sick people in jail for using
medecine is expecially disgusting.
Let's get these people out of office if they will not listen to us.