Yes, but why do that when you can assume bad faith instead?
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Two men from a part of the country where medical marijuana is legal travel to a part where it isnât legal and get arrested under the local laws.
Medical Marijuana is legal nowhere in the USA (except for one person). What happened here couldâve happened just as easily in his home state if a Federal law enforcement official had the fancy to do so. Sadly, neither the President nor the Congress has made the effort to legalize it at the Federal level thereby allowing the states to control its legality.
Is that the obverse of Godwinâs Law youâre invoking?
Ah, but you see . . . if I try to enter (which I have done) a federal building carrying my anticonvulsants Iâm going to get the twice over. Thatâs even though theyâre totally legal to carry into a federal building. Itâs because I carry my meds in a pill carrier as a single dose to avoid misdosing.
So, I also carry the printout from the pharmacy that shows theyâre my prescription. That way, when I do get bugged about them (like I will at any federal or state building) I can prove theyâre my legal drugs and I can have them. If I didnât have that sheet, theyâd be ticketing me for drugs that keep me alive.
If people carrying medical marijuana want to start thinking of it as a drug, they need to recognize the heavy restrictions placed on prescription meds. A medical marijuana card is not a prescription (thatâs why it isnât just on a scrip sheet). Federal law prohibits doctors from writing prescriptions for controlled substances. That means that a medical marijuana card will not clear you for access to buildings requiring you to carry prescription with your meds, nor will it clear you to carry mj in a car in states where it is still illegal. It only clears you to have mj in states where it is legal and public. (Unless federal law changes) it wonât be recognized by the feds.
Niwdog?
So, I am not licensed to practice law in DC or New Jersey, but I can speak generally about this issue. (Usual disclaimers: I am not your lawyer, I am not giving you legal advice). Also, I am not making any comments on the above conversation about civil disobedience and so forth.
Here is the really broad brush strokes version of what is going on here (only speaking very generally about broad principles of the American legal system):
Under our nationâs system of federalism, we have state laws and federal laws. Under the doctrine of âPreemptionâ federal law is (generally) the âsupreme law of the landâ.
Federal law still makes marijuana illegal in most circumstances (generally), however some states have passed laws not making it illegal in a state law context. This does not mean that it is âlegalâ as federal law enforcement could still chose to enforce the marijuana laws even if state law enforcement does not. Modernly, it seems that the justice department is choosing not to generally enforce the federal law in many states (but this is an entirely different conversation). The United States Supreme Court has already reviewed this issue and this is how the decision came down.
By way of illustration, imagine for a moment if a state government were to make owning a bazooka legal. The bazooka would still be illegal under federal law and therefore you could be arrested and charged at any time and anywhere within the United States by federal authorities (again, under the doctrine of preemption).
So, long story short: you could be arrested with marijuana by the federal authorities even in a sanctuary state such as Colorado. This is an interesting area, which I am happy to discuss further if anyone would like. Thanks
Oh, donât worry. I already know that, and wonât disagree with you. Thatâs why I pointed out that a medical marijuana card isnât a prescription. A prescription is a federal device that allows you to travel throughout the U.S. with controlled substances. A medical marijuana card is issued by a state, and only gives you clearance under that stateâs laws. Federally, marijuana is still illegal, and the feds wonât hesitate to take it off anyone possessing it.
Anyway stuff like this should happen 500 times a day. eventually they will give in and give up on the War on americans.
I agree. And put me in the camp of calling this productive civil disobedience.
And on a sidenote, why did the cops have to be so rough when handcuffing him? He wasnât resisting at all. Throwing someone to the ground like that and forcibly pulling their arms behind them is just absurd. Its a little bit of excessive force that everyone seems to accept as normal now. If he had a prior injury or condition it could be downright dangerous, but even without the danger its uncivil and unnecessary and if we accept it as normal the police have way too much freedom to dispense their own punishments.
Give me a break! Hereâs a video of the actual takedown (since it hasnât been posted yet). He gets carefully guided to the ground after they find his stash. After smiling and shaking hands with the cops, Price wanders out to gripe about his scraped knees and how he should call a lawyer â for being detained while doing something he clearly knew was illegal. The video shows thereâs nothing wrong with his legs.
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He gets carefully guided to the ground after they find his stash.
Its kind of scary that you think thatâs âcarefulâ or in any way normal. Agreed that thereâs far worse examples out there, but why are they tackling him at all? Heâs not resisting, they could have just put the handcuffs on him or searched him, or whatever. In cop speak, he was âfully compliantâ.
And if theyâre going to take him down, just let him get on the ground, as opposed to pushing forward as heâs going down, while preventing him from using his hands to cushion his fall. Thatâs the violent part. And just because it ends amicably (as if the guy had any choice) doesnât mean this wasnât excessive.
And again: Iâm not saying this compares to most examples of excessive force, just pointing out how absurd it is that we accept as normal that force will always be applied when an arrest is made.
Unless, of course, the person being arrested is a white guy wearing a tie. In that case, no amount of force should be tolerated. Ahem.
Price wanders out to gripe about his scraped knees and how he should call a lawyer â for being detained while doing something he clearly knew was illegal. The video shows thereâs nothing wrong with his legs.
Iâd be really surprised if he didnât have any scrapes from being taken down like that, but as you point out, he can still walk, so I guess any damage falls below a reasonable threshhold. [rolls eyes]
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[Rolls her eyes right back at you.]
For me to even begin to take you seriously, you may want to retract that race card pull. Iâm more than happy to call out a cop thatâs misbehaving. It looks like you didnât read my posts on the âBlack ASU prof beaten by campus cops without provocation, charged with assaultâ thread.
They start with this question: âPeople do realize that other police showed up on the scene because 9-1-1 was called on the officer, right?â
For me to even begin to take you seriously, you may want to retract that race card pull.
It was hardly a race card, but if you insist: âUnless, of course, the person being arrested is a member of the entrenched upper classes displaying totems of his privilege and status.â
But it really doesnât roll off the tongue as well as âwhite guy wearing a tieââŚ
It looks like you didnât read my posts on the âBlack ASU prof beaten by campus cops without provocation, charged with assaultâ thread.
I am, alas, a bit behind on my @catgrin reading, but again (assuming this is what your post was about), Iâm not saying thereâs not far worse examples of police brutality out there, just that I find it scary that we accept any amount of force as commonplace.
Edit: Also note that Iâm not specifically talking about you here, but American society as a whole.
Donât backtrack on what you said. Your statement was âUnless, of course, the person being arrested is a white guy wearing a tie. In that case, no amount of force should be tolerated. Ahem.â not, âUnless, of course, the person being arrested is a member of the entrenched upper classes displaying totems of his privilege and status.â Only one of those two statements mentions race, and I directly said, âretract that race card pullâ.
You just really want there to be excessive force here. There isnât.
He was pulled aside because they could smell him. They tell him that in the video three separate times. He was put to the ground only after the stash was discovered. The officer was behind him, guiding him, and ensuring he wouldnât strike the table or boxes to either side. He was handcuffed, and then patted down on the ground, where the officer asked if he had anything else on him. People stashing pot frequently are carrying other things - like weapons or other drugs, and he knew he was heading onto federal land. The officer then explained that it was the odor that gave the probable cause to search in the first place, the second time. (He tells him once again at the car.)
He was then picked back up.
The rest of Pierceâs behavior is all bravado, and is a joke.
Erm, I was kind of joking, and showing how the two statements are one and the same thing.
But gotcha, you think this was a perfectly reasonable amount of force to use on an absolutely unresisting citizen for an exceedingly minor non-violent offence. Fully noted.
Hopefully not everyone in America thinks the way you do.
Yeah, I do.
They performed a legal search AFTER FINDING an illegal substance. They didnât hurt him - or he would have cried âfoulâ right there with an audience. Him playing up to the camera afterwards is total b.s.
The fed even let him go. He let him walk away with a smile and a handshake. You are freaking desperate for this to be something it just really isnât.
Iâll just point out that in most other civilized countries, police do not generally feel it necessary to force a person face down onto the ground with a knee in their back when that person is being compliant and (relatively) polite.
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