Pubdate: Mon,  3 Mar 2003
Source: Arcata Eye (US CA)
Copyright: 2003, Arcata Eye
Contact:  http://www.arcataeye.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1210
Author: Bruce Hamilton
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/paraphernalia

DIDN'T WE FIGHT THIS IN THE '60S?

The arrests of three law abiding, productive and decent Arcata businessmen
on Monday is wrong. I want to go on record as decrying this arrogant use of
force by our central government. The DEA and its collective posse have used
the naked force of the State to aggressively attack the legitimate business
of our private citizens.

"Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident,
lapse or omission. It is the result of their deliberate actions, long
persevered in, which they hold to be motivated by high ideals toward
virtuous ends." - Isabel Patterson, from The God of The Machine, 1968.

Catherine and I had the same response, "Didn't we fight this fight back in
the '60s? And didn't we win?" Yes, I am sure that we did. And you know what,
it was decided that to sell Zig-Zag cigarette papers was legal. The
generation before us fought for and won the right to have a glass of wine
with dinner.

I want less government in my life. The Constitution expressly restricts the
power of the State and insures Individuals certain Rights. The arrest of a
manufacturer of glass pipes violates the principals upon which our country
was founded.

Consider if, during the great humanitarian urge to legislate alcohol out of
our lives, you know, the good old days of the Volstead Act, the Attorney
General and his "Acting Administrator" of Whatever Agency they called it
back then, arrested the makers of champagne glasses. The logic is entirely
the same. Champagne glasses are used, after all, for the purpose of drinking
champagne.

It is wrong in this specific case and it is wrong in all cases for the State
to intimidate, incarcerate and impoverish productive, law-obeying citizens
engaged in lawful market activities. We have a Right to manufacture and to
offer for sale glass objects of any configuration. 

What does freedom mean, if not the ability to trade? A group of individuals,
101 North Glass, produces a good and offers it for trade to other
individuals, a retail store, for a value in exchange. The State not only
sanctions the activity, but also taxes it at all stages. Will the Attorney
General go after every retail store that sells these glass pipes next?
Cigarette lighter companies beware, your "paraphernalia," are commonly used
to light cigarettes.

The Wrong perpetuated by the collective's "high ideals" and the use of the
armed might of the State to impose its "virtuous ends," has nothing to do
with the particular arrangement of chemicals that make up the specific
"drug" or the specific "paraphernalia." The wrong is the same in every case,
the Power of the State to interfere with our private lives has gone too far. 

The Constitutional rights of Mr. Teurfs, Mr. Vrbas and Mr. Watson have been
violated. They are due, not only their personal freedom, but also
compensation from the State for being wronged. 

Bruce Hamilton

Arcata
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