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Title: L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca says deputies would enforce marijuana laws even if Prop. 19 passes
Source:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com
URL Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lan ... 10/baca-medical-marijuana.html
Published: Oct 19, 2010
Author: Robert Faturechi
Post Date: 2010-10-19 12:21:35 by freepatriot32
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Keywords: california, prop 19, war on drugs, libertarians
Views: 155
Comments: 13
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said Friday his deputies’ marijuana enforcement would not change even if Proposition 19, which would legalize the drug in California, passes Nov. 2. “Proposition 19 is not going to pass, even if it passes,” Baca said in a news conference Friday at sheriff's headquarters in Monterey Park. Baca, whose department polices three-fourths of the county, was bolstered Friday by an announcement from the Obama administration that federal officials would continue to “vigorously enforce” marijuana laws in California, even if state voters pass the measure. Baca said the proposition was superseded by federal law and if passed, would be found unconstitutional. Campaign contributions: Who has given for and against Prop. 19? Flanked by other opponents of the measure, including Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, Baca made a colorful assault on marijuana use and sales. Asked if he had ever experimented with the drug, Baca was unequivocal. “Hell no,” he said. Baca said legalizing marijuana would have far-reaching repercussions, including increasing the costs of drug rehabilitation, causing traffic accidents, prompting labor disputes with employees getting high on the job and providing a safe cover for drug cartels selling harder narcotics. California’s laws for personal users already are lenient, he said. “If you have a need for an ounce or less … then use your marijuana, but use it privately,” he said. “If you want to do a joint in your house, do it. Leave the rest of us alone.” Baca said personal users smoking in their homes were already a non-priority for police agencies, including his own. His department’s target, he said, are the dealers. Baca came out against the measure early on, joining forces with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to try to defeat it. Polls have shown California voters are split. Baca said Friday local law enforcement agencies should abide by federal drug laws prohibiting marijuana even if the state measure passes. “[Prop.] 19 has no effect on what we’re going to do,” he said -- Robert Faturechi in Monterey Park Photo: L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca. Credit: Los Angeles Times Read more:
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#1. To: All, *libertarians*, *Jack-Booted Thugs*, *Humor-Weird News*, *Agriculture-Environment* (#0)
ping
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why would a county sheriff enforce federal laws?
"If ever this vast country is brought under a single government, it will be one of the most extensive corruption, indifferent and incapable of a wholesome care over so wide a spread of surface. This will not be borne, and you will have to choose between reform and revolution. If I know the spirit of this country, the one or the other is inevitable." - Thomas Jefferson
its a fine thing, tyrants. they always hang themselves in the end, always forget they serve the people. i suspect this guy will either be out of a job. or the locals will have some sort of reaction that convinces him to obey the law.
__________________________________ For the seizure loot
"The Law" Enforced by thugs and criminals like this so-called sheriff. The 'people' likely will start shooting back.
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The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one. "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." - Ben Franklin
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The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one. "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." - Ben Franklin
I edited my comment realizing I did not support it, we human beings do err from time to time in speech and action. It is best to admit it. I am an advocate of peaceful non-cooperation, non-violence, but I am not a pacifist. With that said; this thug's reign in a government issued costume will likely end in the not too distant future as the entire 'drug war' is morally, culturally, and economically unfeasable. What it is is what it is; thugs and criminals in government issue costumes(politicians, judges, prisons, jailers, cops and counselors) forcibly expropriating value(money, property, human lives, etc.)from the 'people' who choose freely to use certain government unapproved substances. What it is is unsustainable. It's like the 'war on poverty', another government program that made the situation worse, lined the pockets of the 'thugs' and expropriated value from the 'people'. You can fool some of the people some of the time....... Peace
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The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one. "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." - Ben Franklin
The Universal classical euphemism or the popular concept of "colour of law."
"we ought to lay off the criticism" -- Pinguinite, circa 2010-05-26 22:17:22 ET
Robert Raich, a lawyer who has handled two medical marijuana cases that went to the U.S. Supreme Court and supports Proposition 19, said the initiative does not violate federal law because it changes only state law, not federal law. "Simply because California and the federal government choose to punish an act differently does not mean they have a conflict," he said. He said it is no different than the state's medical marijuana laws, which have been upheld in court. But he said DEA agents could still enforce federal drug laws. "If the federal government wanted to waste its limited resources trying to prosecute some marijuana facility in Oakland, then nothing would stop them from doing that," he said. The measure's proponents noted that Proposition 215, the medical marijuana law, drew a similar federal reaction. "This is 1996 all over again," said Stephen Gutwillig, the state director of the Drug Policy Alliance. But he noted that, besides California, 13 states and the District of Columbia now allow medical marijuana. "All that happened without a single change in federal law." Gutwillig criticized the Obama administration for continuing a costly war on drugs that has failed. But Peter Bensinger, who headed the DEA between 1976 and 1981 and was at the news conference, described it as a success because drug use is substantially lower now than at its peak in 1978. President Obama has said he opposes legalizing marijuana, but last year his administration ended prosecutions of medical marijuana collectives and patients that abide by state laws, in effect choosing to ignore activities that violate the Controlled Substances Act.
I want either less corruption or more opportunity to participate in it. Ashleigh Brilliant
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)‡
"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams (1722-1803)‡
#2. To: freepatriot32 (#0)
#3. To: freepatriot32 (#0)
________________________________
#4. To: Turtle (#2)
why would a county sheriff enforce federal laws?
#5. To: freepatriot32 (#0)
(Edited)
#6. To: Turtle (#2)
#7. To: Lysander_Spooner (#5)
#8. To: Eric Stratton (#7)
Awaiting a critical mass, eh.
#9. To: Lysander_Spooner (#8)
#10. To: Turtle (#2)
why would a county sheriff enforce federal laws?
#11. To: freepatriot32 (#0)
Proposition 19: California's marijuana legalization debate
#12. To: Turtle (#2)
#13. To: angK (#11)
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