<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><br></div><div> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>I went in to try to come up with alternative language to address the objections that have been raised about this resolution, and ended up doing a comprehensive edit, making numerous changes related to both style and grammar, as well as substance, besides eliminating the language about heroin to which Dan and Whitney voiced objections. </div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Jon and fellow LNC members, please let me know if you find this version (below) acceptable, or have additional thoughts on better wording. The wording <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">in red</font> is new; the wording <strike>in strike-through</strike> was deleted from the original.</div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>I am willing to co-sponsor this version, if Caryn Ann wishes to adopt it as her motion.</div><div><br></div><div>Love & Liberty,</div><div> ((( starchild )))</div><div>At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee</div><div> (415) 625-FREE</div><div> @StarchildSF</div><div> </div><div><div style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline; "><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; "><b>WHEREAS</b><span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; "><strike>,</strike> <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">the current federal classification of </font></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">cannabis</span><span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; "> <strike>is currently classified as a Schedule I drug</strike> under the <strike>United </strike></span><span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; "><strike>States </strike>Controlled Substances Act <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">as a Schedule 1 drug having no medicinal value</font> <strike>, which</strike> is an <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">inaccurate classification at odds with the findings of the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine and those of many other researchers; and</font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; "><span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17"><br></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; "><span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17"><b>WHEREAS</b> this dishonest </font><strike>inappropriate</strike> classification <strike>because it</strike> <strike>impedes</strike> <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">is an impediment both to useful academic</font> </span><span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; "><strike>legal</strike> research<font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">,</font> <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">and to realizing the economic benefits that legalization offers; and</font> <strike>by industries and universities. Further, </strike></span><strike>the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine concluded cannabis’ medical benefits after reviewing relevant scientific literature, including dozens of works documenting its therapeutic value</strike><span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; "><strike>;</strike></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "></span></p><div style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; "><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; "><b>WHEREAS</b><span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; "><strike>,</strike> </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">cannabis is a <strike>mild</strike> drug with few harmful effects and zero documented fatalities </span><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">which is even safer when not forced into the black market, where labeling, testing, and quality control are less prevalent</font><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">; and <strike>Labeled, quality-controlled cannabis products are far safer than unlabeled, untested black-market drugs;</strike></span></p><div style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; "><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; "><b>WHEREAS</b><span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; "><strike>,</strike> </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><strike>the demand for drugs remains unabated under prohibition -- a policy that has never succeeded. </strike> </span><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">drug prohibition in the United States has been an unmitigated failure, with a third of Americans self-reporting having </font><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><strike>One-third of Americans have</strike> used cannabis</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "> <strike>and</strike> despite strict penalties </span><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">against its sale, manufacture and use, and</font><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "> <strike>narcotics, </strike></span><strike><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">heroin use is </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">an epidemic that now kills more Americans every year than do automobiles</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "> and</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "> homicide</span><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17"> </font></strike><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "> </span><span style="color: black; ">over $1 trillion </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">of taxpayer money</font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><span style="color: black; "> <strike>have been</strike> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">wasted</font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><span style="color: black; "> <strike>spent nationally</strike></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17"> in a futile effort to enforce</font></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><span style="color: black; "> <strike>enforcing</strike> drug laws, including those pertaining to cannabis</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">; and </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17"><b><br></b></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17"><b>WHEREAS</b> 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, </font><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><strike>Further, drug warfare drives up crime which endangers Americans and terrorizes the people of supplier countries, such as Mexico</strike>; </span><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">and</font></p><div><br></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; "><b>WHEREAS</b><span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; "><strike>,</strike></span> millions <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">and millions</font> of peaceful Americans have been arrested, imprisoned, fined, or otherwise needlessly criminalized and stigmatized, potentially for life, because of their use of cannabis, <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">and the </font>2 million <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">Drug War prisoners</font> <strike>American</strike> <strike>citizens have been</strike> <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">currently behind bars in the United States</font> <strike>imprisoned, representing</strike> <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">have given this country</font> the highest <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">documented</font> incarceration rate of any nation on Earth<font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">,</font> <strike>and</strike> <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">accounting for a reported</font> 25% the world’s prisoners; <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">and</font></p><div style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; "><br></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; "><b>WHEREAS</b><strike>,</strike><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17"> drug prohibition has been the major driver of the practice of asset forfeiture, in which </font><strike style="color: black; ">with the Drug War’s “asset seizure” program has raising</strike> over $13 billion <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">has been seized by</font> <strike>for</strike> law enforcement across the country<font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">, often from people who have not been convicted of, or sometimes even charged with, any crime;</font> and </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17"><b><br></b></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17"><b>WHEREAS</b> this gross violation of legal </font><strike>are frequently denied</strike> due process<strike>,</strike> <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">has incentivized</font> <strike>incentivizing</strike> the<font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17"> arbitrary and often discriminatory</font> arrest of <strike>otherwise peaceful</strike> <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">U.S. residents in what has come to be known as "policing for profit"</font> <strike> citizens which is often applied in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner</strike>; <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">and</font></p><div style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; "><span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; "> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; "><b>WHEREAS</b>, <strike>existing</strike> <strike>cannabis</strike> <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">unconstitutional statutes attempting to control what people choose to put into their own bodies</font> <strike>laws represent</strike> <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">constitute a</font> vast<font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17"> and dangerous</font> government <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">intervention</font> <strike>over<span style="font-family: 'cambria math'; ">‐</span>reach</strike> into <strike>the</strike> <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">people's</font> personal lives <strike>of our fellow citizens</strike>, violating <strike>founding</strike><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17"> the cherished </font>American <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">values</font> <strike>principles</strike> of <strike>personal</strike> <strike>liberty</strike> <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">individual freedom</font> and choice; <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">and</font></p><div style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; "><span style="color: black; "> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; "><b>WHEREAS</b><span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; "><strike>,</strike></span> <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">polls now show that most Americans support legalizing cannabis for both medical and recreational use, and voters in multiple states have voted accordingly;</font> <strike>the citizens of seven states, including Colorado, Washington, Alaska, California, Nevada, Maine, and Massachusetts have voted to fully legalize cannabis, with more states likely to follow, and over 20 states with medical cannabis laws in effect</strike>; </p><div style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; "><span style="color: rgb(47, 84, 150); "> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; "><strike><b>WHEREAS</b><span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; ">,</span><span style="color: black; "> the economic benefit of legal cannabis products is significant, generating $6.7 billion in 2016 for the United States;</span></strike></p><div style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: justify; "> <br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 12.8px; ">NOW<strike>,</strike> THEREFORE</b><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><strike>,</strike> be it </font><span class="gmail-il" style="font-size: 12.8px; ">resolved</span><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"> that the Libertarian </font><strike style="font-size: 12.8px; ">Party</strike><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"> National Committee supports the <font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">immediate</font> full legalization and federal descheduling of cannabis<strike>, medical cannabis</strike>, and industrial hemp products, </font><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#f80a17">as a much-needed first step toward ending the destructive "War on Drugs" entirely, in accord with the Libertarian Party's platform.</font></span></p><br><br></div></body></html>