Posted on 09/10/2001 11:27:21 PM PDT by joyce11111
townhall.com
marijuana.
September 11, 2001
Despite what pot smokers say, it's not true that marijuana never killed anybody. It killed Grover Crosslin and Rolland Rohm.
Crosslin and Rohm were shot to death during a five-day standoff with police at the Rainbow Farm Campground in Vandalia, Mich. Cass County Sheriff Joseph Underwood Jr. said the men, who lived at the campground together and were free on bail after being arrested in May on drug charges, had both aimed guns at law enforcement officers.
The confrontation began on August 31, when Crosslin, Rainbow Farm's owner, started setting fire to buildings at the campground, which the government was planning to seize through civil forfeiture. During the standoff, shots were fired at a news helicopter and a police airplane.
This outburst of violence belies marijuana's image as a drug of love and understanding -- the image that Rainbow Farm, a notorious haven for pot smokers, sought to promote with its peace signs and dancing bears. Advertised as a place where "families with alternative lifestyles can relax comfortably and privately in the beautiful rolling hills of Southwestern Michigan," the campground brazenly appealed to hedonists by proclaiming, "At Rainbow Farm FUN is still legal."
In case you didn't get its subversive message, Rainbow Farm openly admitted that it supported marijuana legalization. The "Alternative Campground and Concert Arena" regularly hosted events such as HempAid and RoachRoast, the very names of which were an affront to decent, drug-free people everywhere.
The name of Rainbow Farm's "coffee bar" was The Joint, its logo an obscenely fat marijuana cigarette. The campground also had a Hemp Gift Store and a shop called Smoke World that sold "pipes and accessories," ostensibly "for use with tobacco and legal herbal blend products."
A disclaimer on the campground's Web site insisted that "Rainbow Farm DOES NOT promote the use of illicit drugs by anyone." Who did they think they were fooling?
Naturally, the authorities could not tolerate the sort of "alternative lifestyle" practiced at Rainbow Farm. During a two-year undercover investigation, state and local agents posing as hippies bought marijuana from people attending events at Rainbow Farm. "You would be amazed," one officer told the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune last May. "You go in there, (drug use) is just everywhere."
The police shot videotape that documented the shameless behavior of Rainbow Farm's customers. "In one scene," the Tribune reported, "a man handed a bag of marijuana to another. Then, a group of people was openly passing a marijuana cigarette as toddlers played nearby." There were also reports of nudity and outdoor sex -- none, of it, unfortunately, caught on videotape.
The investigation resulted in six arrests. Crosslin and Rohm were charged with manufacturing marijuana, operating a drug house and felony possession of firearms -- offenses that carry sentences totaling more than 20 years. The government closed down the campground, put Rohm's 12-year-old son in a foster home, and began forfeiture proceedings to seize the 34-acre property.
Sheriff Underwood described Crosslin as "agitated" by these developments, and Crosslin's sister said he was "very angry with the government and the way they have done things." But how long did he think he could continue offending his neighbors' sensibilities? "These guys weren't exactly growing corn," observed Charles Giacona, vice president of the Right to Decency, a group based in Warren, Mich. A Vandalia resident told The Detroit News the confrontation "was coming for years, with those people out there advertising marijuana. They were rubbing the cops' noses in it."
Rainbow Farm's defenders (believe it or not, there are some) offered the usual lame excuses. "These people weren't hurting anybody," said one (probably a pot smoker himself) after the arrests in May. What about the children?
Another likened the forfeiture of Rainbow Farm to "stealing" -- ridiculous, because stealing is illegal. Some even suggested that people had a constitutional right to gather at Rainbow Farm in protest of the war on drugs -- as if the First Amendment had anything to do with getting together to complain about the government.
During the standoff, Crosslin's father warned that his son apparently felt some sort of principle was at stake. "When he believes in something," he told the Associated Press, "he's going to take it all the way to the end." Vandalia Mayor Sondra Mose-Ursery explained that Crosslin thought "he should be able to do what he wants on his own property." It's amazing what people will believe after they've smoked enough dope.
©2001 Creators Syndicate, Inc.
townhall.com
The fact that one of these incidents finally happened where pot was involved does not in any way show pot to be the cause of the incident. The involvement of pot in violent incidents is extremely rare, especially when compare to the incredible number of alcohol-induced violent acts.
This article is nothing more than a distorted, agenda-driven selective use of the facts to manufacture an entirely false premise. I expected much better from Townhall.com.
It is obvious now that excessive pot usage destroys brain cells, especially those that allow the user to discern satire. Geeze, I am tired of pointing this out to you people. DOTE SMOKE AND POST it damages your credibility.
Yeah, I am sorry to say that my brain cells are pretty much in tact.
Thank goodness another freeper with a full complement of brain cells.
What you will never read is that Vandalia, Michigan, is over 85% Black people, decendants of slaves that escaped to the North. Vandalia was the Northern Terminus of 'The Underground Railroad'. It was a place of freedom and joy!
My heart is breaking as I write these words. This atrocity happenned in Vandalia, Michigan! Crosslin and Rohm grew some marijuana (Hemp grows wild around here, thanks to the US Government during WW-I) and used it for their own purposes. They never sold any drugs to anyone! That is a matter of Public Record!
They are dead now, by the hands of the Michigan State Police, the FBI, and the ATF!
What Crosslin and Rohm didn't have, was a vehicle that could get them out of there alive, and get them to a TV station, so they could give an honest report. The story about the Channel-16 helicopter being hit with gunfire is bullshit! The pilot of the chopper copped a stone on take-off, and proceeded with his flight. Your FOIA will take four years, and the tapes will be long-gone!
Given the system that we've got, I guess the moral is: "Make sure that you've got a vehicle that can get you out of the fire-fight! These cocksuckers are going to kill you, so leave!!"
My next car will a HUMMER!....FRegards
"I'd never advocate the use of drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity, but they've always worked for me!!" by gonzo
I don't need not say a thing!
This crap shouldn't happen anywhere, but it's already happenned here!
I don't have any answers, I only have my response. Buy a vehicle that is big-enough and strong-enough to motor-over the FBI, ATF, and State Police!
Grind those fuckers into the dirt, and take yer case to the nearest TV studio!
If you don't get your story on 'Camera', you'll be a dead-child-molester by six PM!
That's what they're trying to do here, Jim! I am sick with this, pal! Talk with ya later...FRegards
I don't need not say a thing..."
WOW, pal! Thanks for visiting! I can't make that third song work! Can you help me out? ....FRegards
St. Grover and St. Rolland had big festivals on thier property where drugs were sold. If they were so "wholesome" , they would not have allowed drugs to be sold on thier property.
Also according to Brown's affidavit, a 17-year-old boy ran a stop sign on April 21 and collided with a school bus, flipping it and killing himself. He wore a festival wristband at the time of the accident. A friend later told police that he and the teen went to a festival the night before at Rainbow Farm, smoked pot and bought "liquid acid" for $5 a hit. The dead teen had three hits, police were told.
The friend saw the teen drive away by himself at 2 a.m
Although I usually never agree with you on these WOD threads, this time I can find no basis to argue against your point here.
ROTFL. The irony here is just tooooooo rich.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.