Pubdate: Thu, 09 Jul 2015
Source: Trentonian, The (NJ)
Copyright: 2015 The Trentonian
Contact: http://www.trentonian.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1006
Author: Edward Forchion, NJWeedman.com For The Trentonian
BONGS, BLUNTS, JOINTS... HOW ABOUT GUNS?
Important stoner alert: huge marijuana protest at LOVE PARK,
Philadelphia 7/10, 4 p.m. SMOKE DOWN PROHIBITION https://
www.facebook.com/ events/469747533199955 .
I usually say joint, but lately I haven't been Passing the Joint much
because I've been taking bong rips - oops, Chalice inspirations. I
have several Chalices, which are my sacramental bongs. Don't laugh;
some use cannabis religiously, so if you're using a bong - oops,
Chalice for religious purposes, shouldn't it be protected by the
First Amendment? I think so.
Due to the goofy paraphernalia laws of the 1980s very few people
possess or carry Chalices around anymore. That's too bad because this
is the safest way to consume the holy herb through a water-filtered
pipe. Because of those paraphernalia laws the Cannabis Consuming
Community of America has been forced to use harmful methods of
delivery, always fearful of the police finding our bong or pipe so we
leave them home. Instead blunts and rolling papers far more harmful
delivery methods - are used because we can pretend they are for the
government sanctioned drug tobacco.
Blunts - nope, it's tobacco, it stinks, and it ruins the taste of
good weed. Whatever you pass me, just don't pass me a blunt!
BTW: When I walk into a 7-Eleven and ask for papers I always say,
"Can I have a pack of marijuana papers?" The shocked clerks always
smiles and comments on how everyone uses the papers and wraps for
marijuana but few admit it.
The government calls all these products paraphernalia; in New Jersey,
if the authorities catch you with a Chalice it is a 2C:36-1
violation. The punishment: up to six months in jail, probation, up to
2 years of community service, mandatory costs, a fine of up to
$1,000. This is comparable to the punishment for eating a THC-infused
brownie in defiance of Governor Christie's ban on edible THC
products. (My next venture: open a smoke shop and name it The
Paraphernalia Store.)
I'm tokin' on a Chalice as I write this now - maybe I'll change the
name of this column to Grasp The Chalice.
How many people have their lives ruined every week in Trenton
Municipal Court for marijuana possession as millions use cannabis
legally in other parts of the country? This week I happened to bump
into a former prosecutor in Trenton and asked her that very question.
She couldn't provide an exact figure offhand, but she estimated at
least 10 a week - which equals 520 a year. Doesn't that piss off the
people of Trenton? Trenton residents have enough issues keeping their
heads above water and striving for the American dream without being
victimized by the lies of the racist congresses of yesteryear.
The Cannabis laws were created on a foundation of racism and have
been enforced racially ever since; they are the longest-lasting Jim
Crow laws, and anyone who supports them at this point in history has
to be seriously questioned about the racism aspect of the cannabis
laws too. ("Dear Candidate Christie: What do you think of the July
2013 ACLU report that concluded POCs (persons of color) are around
three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than Caucasians
in New Jersey? Are the marijuana laws racist?")
At least 520 Trenton citizens are victimized each year by the
malicious deceptions of our marijuana laws - that's 22,000 victims
statewide. When you're arrested for weed you lose your license and
face fines, but worst of all you get a record that's used against you
when you try to pursue jobs and education, and you totally lose your
Second Amendment rights. Presidential candidate Chris Christie is
kool with that. He wants to continue the lies and even promised that
if he's elected he'd sic the federal government on states that have
legalized cannabis despite federal law. What a jerk my old pal can be.
The Second Amendment: I wish I could protect myself.
Because of the stupid racist marijuana laws I'm a felon and can't own
or posses a gun. The Second Amendment doesn't exist for me and the
millions of people who have been convicted of marijuana offenses. I
can't protect my home or my new business here in the heart of Trenton
because I didn't believe the lies of our nation's marijuana laws. "Fk
the law, smoke it anyway" is my famous saying.
In urban communities that are under siege by the government's war on
drugs, millions of African-Americans have been rendered defenseless
via the "pot laws" - Chicago, Detroit, Camden, Trenton.
In Turner v. Safley the U.S. Supreme Court said, "Prison walls do not
form a barrier separating prison inmates from the protections of the
Constitution." Hence, for example, prisoners retain the
constitutional right to petition the government for the redress of
grievances (Johnson v. Avery); they are protected against invidious
racial discrimination by the Equal Protection Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment (Lee v. Washington), and they enjoy the
protections of due process (Wolff v. McDonnell).
Why, upon completion of your sentence, aren't you given your Second
Amendment back? In most states you get your right to vote back as
well as most every other fundamental right.
I understand why a prisoner in a prison can't posses a gun, but why
am I stripped of my right to self-protection for life? I've done my
time, which was a total waste of my life, and I smoked a joint at the
Liberty Bell in Philadelphia to celebrate my freedom when I was
released from parole. #420smokerforlife
While I'm not a staunch Second Amendment advocate, I do understand
the need for it and wish I hadn't been stripped of my Second
Amendment right. Legally it was done with the Gun Control Act of 1968
(aka the Certain Persons Act); under the GCA, selling of firearms to
certain categories of individuals is prohibited.
As quoted from 18 U.S.C. 922 (d) of the Act: "It shall be unlawful
for any person to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm or
ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to
believe that such person is under indictment for, or has been
convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a
term exceeding one year."
People who have been convicted are commonly called "Certain Persons"
and are prohibited from possessing any firearm. I am a certain person
because of weed - more specifically, because of the absurd
anti-marijuana laws. I know there is a large Second Amendment
movement, but even they seem to ignore how people are stripped of the
vital right to self defense for cockamamie reasons like violating the
racist marijuana laws of this country.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom