ok, here's a few snippets, more to come...
"Marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule I controlled sunstance, implying that it has a high potential for abuse, no officially accepted medical uses, and no safe level of use under medical supervision. Heroin, LSD and peyote are other Schedule I drugs; cocaine and phencyclidine (PCP) are listed in Schedule II, allowing doctors to prescribe them. Under federal law, it is illegal to possess any amount of pot anywhere in the United States. Penalties fora first marijuana offense range from probation to the death penalty. Moreover, it is illegal to use the US Postal Service or any other interstate shippers for the advertisement, import, or export of such marijuana paraphenalia as roach clips, water pipes, and, in some instances, cigarette papers - a crime which can lead to imprisonment and fines of up to $100,000.
Under civil forfeiture statutes, real estate, vehicles, cash, securities, jewelry and any other property connected to a marijuana offense are subject to immediate seizure. The federal government need not prove the property was bought with the proceeds of illegal drug sales, only that it was involved in the commission of a crime - that marijuana was grown on certain land or transported in a particular vehicle. A yacht can be seized if there is a single joint discovered on it. A house can be seized if there is a single marijuana plant is found growing there. Property may be seized and forfeited even after a defendant is found innocent of the offense, since the strict burden of proof that applies to people - "beyond a reasonabe doubt" - does not apply in accusations against inanimate objects. Property can be forfeited without it's owner ever being charged with a crime. On top of fines, incarceration, and forfeiture, a convicted marijuana offender may face the revocation or denial of more than 460 federal benefits, including student loans, small-business loans, profesional licenses, and farm subsidiaries. Americans convicted of a marijuana felony, even if they are disabled, may no longer receive federal welfare payments, or food stamps. Convicted murderers, rapists and child molesters, however, remain eligible for such benefits.
State Marijuana laws were toughened during the 1980s and now vary enormously. Some states classify marijuana with drugs like cocaine and mescaline, while others give it a separate legal catagory. In NY State possessing slightly less than an ounce of marijuana brings a $100 fine. In Louisiana possessing the same amount of pot could lead to a prison sentence of twenty years. In Montana selling a pound of marijuana, first offense, could lead to a life sentence, whereas in New Mexico selling 10,000 pounds of marijuana, first offense, could be punished by a prison term of no more than three years."
"In Kentucky products made of hemp fibres, such as paper and clothing, are not only illegal but technically carry the same penalties associated with an equivalent weight of marijuana."
"The first American law concerning marijuana, passed by the Virginia assembly in 1619, required every household to grow it."
"Police officers in Texas [in 1910] claimed that marijuana incited violent crimes, aroused a "lust for blood", and gave it's users "super-human strength".
Oklahoma, June 11, 1992. "Larry jackson, a small-time crook with a lengthy record of non-violent offenses, was arrested at a friend's Tulsa apartment. On the floor near Jackson's right foot a police officer noticed a miniscule amount of marijuna - 0.16 of a gram, which is 0.005644 of an ounce. Jackson was charged with felony possession of marijuana, convicted, and given a life sentence."
and I'm only about 40 pages in. astonishing stuff.
