California judge blasts drug war at pro-marijuana rally in Reno

Las Vegas Sun ^ | May 03, 2003 | MARTIN GRIFFITH

[MrLeRoy]

RENO, Nev. (AP) - A Superior Court judge sharply criticized the drug war and renewed his call for the decriminalization of marijuana at a pro-marijuana rally Saturday.

Judge James Gray of Orange County, Calif., said the drug war has cost billions of dollars and resulted in the United States having the world's highest incarceration rate - with no end in sight to rampant drug abuse.

The former federal prosecutor said he has never smoked marijuana, but supports the strictly controlled distribution of pot to adults.

"We have made an illness into a plague. (This is) a failed and hopeless system," Gray said.

"I believe people should be entitled to do what they want to their bodies, but that they should be held accountable," he added.

Gray, 58, a lifelong Republican until he became a Libertarian earlier this year, has been a judge for 19 years. He's the author of "Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It."

More than 60 people attended the "Rally for Cannabis Liberation" at Reno's Idlewild Park.

The rally was sponsored by Cures not Wars, a pro-marijuana group that was to hold similar rallies around the country this weekend.

Group spokeswoman Michelle Buck of Reno said the purpose of the rally was to raise awareness that tens of thousands of Americans are in prisons for non-violent drug crimes.

Of particular concern, she said, are thousands who have been arrested for legally or illegally supplying medical marijuana.

Some people held signs that read "Free Ed Rosenthal." The Oakland, Calif., man's arrest last year was among a string of federal raids of medical marijuana suppliers in California.

A 1970 federal law does not recognize any medical purposes for marijuana. A federal judge refused in January to allow Rosenthal to tell jurors he was operating under state law.

Jurors convicted Rosenthal. When they learned the details they were not told during the trial, several jurors said they regretted their verdict.

"We're here to show our support for people like Ed," Buck said. "Marijuana is not the evil drug the federal government has made it out to be."

In November, Nevada voters rejected a measure to legalize possession of up to three ounces of marijuana by a margin of 61 percent to 39 percent.

Gray, appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian to the bench, was the keynote speaker at a Libertarian Party of Nevada dinner Saturday night in Virginia City.

[MrLeRoy]

Wod_list ping

[dark_lord]

I suppose California could solve their budgetary problems by legalizing pot, growing it in state government warehouses (guarded by the California National Guard), and selling it for 1/2 current street value. They would close their budget deficit pretty quickly. :-)

[headsonpikes]

"We have made an illness into a plague."

'Iatrogenic disease' is the name of the game.

[MrLeRoy]

"We have made an illness into a plague."

'Iatrogenic disease' is the name of the game.

I can't count the number of times I've seen someone post 'addicts commit crimes to pay for their drugs' as a pro-WOD argument, only to be silenced when it was pointed out that it's the War On Some Drugs that makes them expensive.

[jmc813]

WOD Ping

[jmc813]

Betcha a dollar Dane shows up and points out that this judge is from leftist Orange County.

[biblewonk]

"I believe people should be entitled to do what they want to their bodies, but that they should be held accountable," he added.

Where have I heard that before.

[vin-one]

won't belong, or also talks about a Soros connection....

[MrLeRoy]

"I believe people should be entitled to do what they want to their bodies, but that they should be held accountable," he added.

Where have I heard that before.

Dunno---where?

[Wolfie]

I think it was Bill Bennett's mea culpa.

[biblewonk]

Dunno---where?

Pro choice femanazies.

[Wolfie]

Or maybe Rush Limbaugh defending cigarette smokers.

[GLDNGUN]

Here we go. It's time for all Freeping potheads and drug addicts to crawl out from their crack houses in a stupor, raise a fist skyward, and work up enough energy to shout "coooooool, duuuuuude!"

[Leisler]

What make you think they would be anymore successful at that than anything else they mucked up? I am not sure kalifonia gooberment could grow weeds. Within two years they would be wanting federal assistance. Naturally, taxes would have to be raised. You get the drift.

[MrLeRoy]

Here we go. It's time for all Freeping

... WOD supporters to post their tired ad hominems.

[MrLeRoy]

Pro choice femanazies.

Abortion is done to another person's body; drug use is done to one's own body.

[robertpaulsen]

That's right. We need to make deadly and addictive drugs more affordable.

Then, to discourage their use, we need to slap on an ungodly tax like we do with cigarettes.

Then, drugs will be driven underground to avoid the tax, like cigarettes. Wait a minute.....

[thepitts]

Here we go. It's time for all Freeping potheads and drug addicts to crawl out from their crack houses in a stupor, raise a fist skyward, and work up enough energy to shout "coooooool, duuuuuude!"

Did you even bother to read the article?

[clamper1797]

Abortion is done to another person's body; drug use is done to one's own body.

This point is make time after time after time ad nauseum to the WOD control freaks. BUT invariably they will ignore it.