[Lnc-business] Email Ballot 2017-04: Cannabis Resolution

Sat Feb 25 11:47:11 EST 2017

At Sam's prompting I am explicitly polling my state chairs.  I may also
send a poll to my newsletter base of 200+ Libertarians.  I would live to
see Wes put out a poll to the general membership to see what *they* think.

Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, and Montana has all given support.  One of them
said, "YES, YES, YES, it's about time!"

I submit we are somewhat out of touch on what is wasting our time and what
members would, at times, like to see.  Unless something is absolutely
against our or my principles, I defer to the members as much as possible.

-Caryn Ann

On Fri, Feb 24, 2017 at 8:59 PM Caryn Ann Harlos <carynannharlos at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Let's shut down the Facebook page.  We say so much there that everyone
> already knows.  Must be useless.
>
> -Caryn Ann
>
> On Fri, Feb 24, 2017 at 8:26 PM, Daniel Hayes <danielehayes at icloud.com>
> wrote:
>
> I change my vote to "No" on the Marijuana Resolution.
>
>
> I was just preached to about a lot of stuff that was NOT in my story.  I
> never said that it wasn't Ok he asked me to buy some pot.  The point is
> despite the fact he already knew I didn't like him, he associated me with
> him being able to buy some pot because I was a LNC member.
>
> Resolutions should be reserved when people are uncertain where we stand on
> an issue or we really need to make a point.
>
> I fully supported the resolution over the summer regarding our gun stance,
> due process, etc because there were factors that might have confused those
> issues in the mind of average citizens.  I used that resolution to calm a
> gentleman from leaving the Party.
>
> I switched to "No" because plopping out a bunch of resolutions can make
> them less effective when they are really needed.  I switched to "No"
> because this isn't needed. I switched to "No" because I spend time talking
> to legislators about this matter. I understand that insulting and badgering
> people doesn't change their votes.
>
>   I don't hide my positions about cannabis or any other drug with anybody.
>
>
> Someone talked about voting your conscience. I did and my conscience is
> fine.
>
> For the record in case anybody doesn't get it. I support full legalization
> of cannabis and every other drug.
>
>
> Daniel Hayes
> LNC At Large Member
>
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Feb 24, 2017, at 6:16 PM, Starchild <sfdreamer at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>
> Dan,
>
> LOL at your story!   :-)  But I see a different lesson to be drawn here.
>
> First of all, it *IS* okay for "a random dude in a Lyft" to ask his
> driver to sell him some marijuana!  Asking is free speech. It is not
> insulting or offensive. As Libertarians, we believe everyone should have
> the right to request such a transaction, and that if buyer and seller are
> in agreement, it should be allowed to take place without any interference
> from government.
>
> Selling it to him is not technically illegal, either, regardless of what
> the U.S. federal government or Louisiana state government may say. The U.S.
> Constitution does not authorize Congress to make any laws banning or
> regulating the sale of substances such as cannabis, and the 9th and 10th
> Amendments makes clear that the people possess rights not listed in the
> Constitution, and that powers not listed in the Constitution are reserved
> to the state governments or to the people. The 14th Amendment further
> establishes that not just the federal government, but the state governments
> as well, are forbidden from infringing on these rights: "No state shall
> make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of
> citizens of the United States." So unless a seller of marijuana is not a
> U.S. citizen, any Louisiana statutes criminalizing that sale are also
> unconstitutional and therefore illegal.
>
> Quite possibly the reason the gentleman asked you about Trump is because
> he wouldn't have wanted to ask an anti-cannabis conservative who might take
> an offer to buy cannabis badly. The fact that you being a Libertarian made
> your passenger feel safe enough with you to trust you in making a request
> which could get him in trouble with government authorities is a *victory* for
> us! It is the reward we've reaped from our history of being outspoken
> opponents of the "War on Drugs". If members of the public trust Libertarian
> Party leaders, that's a *good* thing (to the extent we *are* trustworthy
> and they aren't being misled, but that's a separate matter; in this case, I
> don't think the trust was misplaced, as whether you liked the guy or not,
> I'm sure you didn't go and report him to the authorities). If they trust
> us, they are more likely to vote for our candidates, donate money to our
> party, etc.
>
> Hypothetically speaking, say that your passenger had just happened to read
> in some media outlet somewhere that the LNC had just rejected a resolution
> in favor of legalizing and de-scheduling marijuana. Do you think he would
> have felt as trusting of you, and as safe in asking you to sell him some
> weed? Do you think he would have been as likely to vote for the next
> Libertarian candidates he might see on his ballot?
>
> Passing this resolution is an opportunity to keep our opposition to the
> modern Prohibition fresh in the public's consciousness, and to continue to
> earn their trust. Rejecting it risks sending a mixed message and
> undermining that trust. I encourage you to reconsider your abstention and
> vote yes.
>
> Love & Liberty,
>
>                                    ((( starchild )))
> At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee
>                                 (415) 625-FREE
>                                   @StarchildSF
>
>
> On Feb 24, 2017, at 2:57 PM, Daniel Hayes wrote:
>
> I abstain.
>
> Just last night it was "driven" home to me just how little this is needed
> from the LNC.  I drive Lyft occasionally. Its Mardi Gras, and I was driving
> Lyft last night.
>
> This one passenger that made me wait a while and was kind of "triggering"
> me said to me while driving, "You look like a Trump man."
> I looked at him sideways and grabbed my phone and showed him the LP site.
> He saw LP and said "Oh! you are a LIbertarian, I voted for Gary Johnson."
> I then showed him the LNC, and he saw my picture and said, "Oh! you are on
> the National Committee. Can you sell me some weed?"
>
> Now I don't smoke, use, or sell weed so I couldn't help him though I fully
> support the reform of cannabis laws.  I didn't really like him so I
> probably wouldn't have sold him any even if I had some and even if it were
> not illegal to do so.
>
> The point of this story is everybody knows where we stand on cannabis. I
> was already thinking that before this incident last night.
>
> It's still kinda long and preachy and we have been proselytizing  this
> since 1971.  When a random dude in a Lyft automatically thinks it's ok to
> ask his driver to buy some weed BECAUSE he is on the Libertarian National
> Committee, I think this motion is redundant.
>
> Hence my abstention.
>
>
> Daniel Hayes
> LNC At Large Member
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>
>
> On Feb 24, 2017, at 4:21 PM, David Demarest <dpdemarest at centurylink.net>
> wrote:
>
> Yes
>
>
>
> Thoughts?
>
>
>
> ~David
>
>
>
> *2017 Omaha Libertarian Strategy Un-Convention*
>
>
>
> *Celebrate Life, Set the Bar High and LIVE FREE*
>
>
>
> ~David Pratt Demarest
>
> LNC Region 6 Representative
>
> Secretary, LPNE State Central Committee
>
> Cell:      402-981-6469 <(402)%20981-6469>
>
> Home: 402-493-0873 <(402)%20493-0873>
>
>
>
> *From:* Lnc-business [mailto:lnc-business-bounces at hq.lp.org
> <lnc-business-bounces at hq.lp.org>] *On Behalf Of *Caryn Ann Harlos
> *Sent:* Friday, February 24, 2017 4:18 PM
> *To:* Libertarian National Committee list <lnc-business at hq.lp.org>
> *Subject:* Re: [Lnc-business] Email Ballot 2017-04: Cannabis Resolution
>
>
>
> Yes
>
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 24, 2017 at 3:10 PM, Alicia Mattson <agmattson at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> We have an electronic mail ballot.
>
>
>
> *Votes are due to the LNC-Business list by March 6, 2017 at 11:59:59pm
> Pacific time.*
> *Co-Sponsors:*  Harlos, Demarest, Starchild, Redpath
>
> *Motion:*
>
> WHEREAS the current federal classification of cannabis under the
> Controlled Substances Act as a Schedule 1 drug having no medicinal value is
> an inaccurate classification at odds with the findings of the National
> Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine and those of many other
> researchers; and
>
> WHEREAS this dishonest classification is an impediment both to useful
> academic research, and to realizing the economic benefits that legalization
> offers; and
>
> WHEREAS cannabis is a drug with few harmful effects and zero documented
> fatalities which is even safer when not forced into the black market, where
> labeling, testing, and quality control are less prevalent; and
>
> WHEREAS drug prohibition in the United States has been an unmitigated
> failure, with a third of Americans self-reporting having used cannabis
> despite strict penalties against its sale, manufacture and use, and over $1
> trillion of taxpayer money in a futile effort to enforce drug laws,
> including those pertaining to cannabis; and
>
> WHEREAS the black markets created by these unconstitutional statutes have
> led to increased violence both in the United States and in other countries
> such as Mexico where cannabis and other drugs are produced for the U.S.
> market; and
>
> WHEREAS millions and millions of peaceful Americans have been arrested,
> imprisoned, fined, or otherwise needlessly criminalized and stigmatized,
> potentially for life, because of their use of cannabis, and the 2 million
> Drug War prisoners currently behind bars in the United States have given
> this country the highest documented incarceration rate of any nation on
> Earth, accounting for a reported 25% the world’s prisoners; and
>
> WHEREAS drug prohibition has been the major driver of the practice of
> asset forfeiture, in which over $13 billion has been seized by law
> enforcement across the country, often from people who have not been
> convicted of, or sometimes even charged with, any crime; and
>
> WHEREAS this gross violation of legal due process, has incentivized the
> arbitrary and often discriminatory arrest of U.S. residents in what has
> come to be known as "policing for profit" ; and
>
> WHEREAS unconstitutional statutes attempting to control what people choose
> to put into their own bodies constitute a vast and dangerous government
> intervention into people's personal lives violating the cherished American
> values of individual freedom and choice; and
>
> WHEREAS polls now show that most Americans support legalizing cannabis for
> both medical and recreational use, and voters in multiple states have voted
> accordingly;
>
> NOW THEREFORE be it resolved that the Libertarian National Committee
> supports the immediate full legalization and federal de-scheduling of
> cannabis and industrial hemp products, as a much-needed first step toward
> ending the destructive "War on Drugs" entirely, in accord with the
> Libertarian Party's platform.
>
>
> -Alicia
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Lnc-business mailing list
> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> *In Liberty,*
>
> *Caryn Ann Harlos*
>
> Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (Alaska, Arizona,
> Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - Caryn.Ann.
> Harlos at LP.org <Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org>
>
> Communications Director, Libertarian Party of Colorado
> <http://www.lpcolorado.org/>
>
> Colorado State Coordinator, Libertarian Party Radical Caucus
> <http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org/>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> <Untitled attachment 00624.txt>
>
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>
> _______________________________________________
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>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
>
> Lnc-business mailing list
>
>
> Lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>
>
> http://hq.lp.org/mailman/listinfo/lnc-business_hq.lp.org
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> *In Liberty,*
> *Caryn Ann Harlos*
> Region 1 Representative, Libertarian National Committee (Alaska, Arizona,
> Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Washington) - Caryn.Ann.
> Harlos at LP.org <Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org>
> Communications Director, Libertarian Party of Colorado
> <http://www.lpcolorado.org>
> Colorado State Coordinator, Libertarian Party Radical Caucus
> <http://www.lpradicalcaucus.org>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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