The PI had a story yesterday on a Jefferson County medical marijuana patient who was caught up in a Border Patrol roadblock near the Hood Canal Bridge. Under new laws, the Border Patrol can set up checkpoints anywhere within 100 miles of the Canadian border. The man, Stephen Dixon, is a 55-year-old disabled veteran who has a doctor’s approval to use medical marijuana for chronic pain. He was a passenger in the car that was stopped by the Border Patrol and had three grams worth of pot (a paper clip weighs one gram).
Thankfully for Dixon, his case was dismissed because the political environment is forcing even staunch drug warriors to re-prioritize:
In addition to dismissing the drug charges this week, [Seattle’s U.S. Attorney Jeff] Sullivan told the Border Patrol not to bring his office any more small-time pot cases.
“Today, I informed the Border Patrol that all future small possession cases may be referred to state or local law enforcement, but will not be pursued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office due to a lack of federal interest in the prosecution,” Sullivan said Thursday in a statement released to the Seattle P-I and a Port Angeles newspaper.
The Bush Administration’s DOJ has made medical marijuana prosecutions a higher priority than white-collar crime, yet even the man who’s been trying to extradite seed-seller Marc Emery isn’t willing to prosecute these cases now. Sadly though, Dixon’s own Congressman, Norm Dicks, voted to allow federal dollars to be spent to arrest people for medical marijuana in states like Washington where voters have made it legal. Fortunately, the idiots in Border Patrol who try to arrest people for having small amounts of pot on them likely won’t have any place to refer those cases to any more.
One small toke for man, a big step for the DOJ.
@1
Classic.
And just as disturbing, we now cannot freely travel within the United States without being subject to random search and seizure. So much for that pesky Constitution. Thanks a lot, President Cheney.
The sad truth is that I know several Border Patrol types, most based in Port Angeles at the Coho ferry terminal. They have trouble finding their own back pockets.
Sometimes I think I need to learn how to Goose step so I can get along in this country.
From the PI article: “Agents have stopped 24,524 vehicles carrying 41,912 passengers. They have detained 19 people who were turned over to local police agencies for state crimes and taken 81 undocumented immigrants into custody.”
Only 81 out of 41,912? That is less than 2/10 of 1 percent. It’s pretty clear that stopping illegal immigration is not the goal of these roadblocks.
So what is the real purpose of this unwarranted government intrusion into our lives?
@6
Window dressing. This supposedly will make Homeland Insecurity look good once the report is drawn up for presentation to congress. Of course, some details will be conveniently ignored.
It’s comforting to know the Border Patrol is protecting us from those who would use cannibis. I can’t tell you how many times in the last few days I’ve been threatened by “them”. It’s just downright creepy & hard to reconcile.
The Coast Guard & State Patrol too, are protecting me when I use the Seattle/Bainbridge ferry run. The #1 target of Al Qaeda.
And geeod, don’t even get me goin’ on them eelegal emigrunts.
I just hope the Chinese know how much we appreciate them financing our protection. It seems like we sure could save some bucks if we were’nt so scared.
Leaving Lee’s preoccupation with marijuana, the real issue here may be that they did find 81 illegals.
I would bet they could do that in one day by just swooping down on a few Home Depots. Is this an efficient device?
BTW, as far as I have read, marijuana is not a very good analgesic.
@9
24,483 folks who weren’t guilty of anything or even suspected of doing anything wrong were stopped so the border patrol could find 81 folks. Yeah, it sounds to me like the border patrol needs to find better ways to pass the time.
Totally wrong. From everything I read, it is miraculous, especially with nausea related to chemo or other health problems. I consider it a medical herb. It is also good for depression.
What I didn’t like is them referring to it as a “narcotic.” What the hell. There isn’t anything really narcotic about it. Non-addictive in the traditional sense of the word. Tobacco and Alcohol have killed a million times more people than cannabis.
There is a variation in types of cannabis, with indica types being the body type high, more for medical use, whereas sativa is more the cerebral. So what I am saying, is that some people might have tried a version that they didn’t like, so they never used again, and consequently have limited knowledge.
I firmly believe it has highly medicinal properties.
Watch the first five minutes of “Pineapple Express” for a funny scene on the military experimenting with marijuana right after world war two.
Looks like the border patrol busting folks for anything other than immigration violations might be a no-no.
If the Border Patrol does not have authority then their usage of roadblocks and their intentions to detain people are illegal. Holding someone illegally by the force of arms is kidnapping and planning to do so ahead of time is conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Sounds like major felonies to me. Should round up the whole bunch and press charges.
@11 CC Bud
I did not say that marijuana has no useful medical properties. However, nothing I have read supports the claim that it is a good pain reliever.
This stuff is so stupid, Marijuana is a fairly harmless intoxicant, closer to coffee, chocolate, or tobacco than it is to cough syrup, benadryl, or St John’s.
The marijuana crowd, out of frustration, promote it as something it is not … leaving rational folks wondering who is worse the nuts that make mj illegal or the nuts who worship it?
From the Kitsap Sun:
“Paul Richmond, a Port Townsend-based attorney representing Dixon, said his client suffers from chronic pain and uses marijuana to alleviate it. Richmond said his client was “verbally abused” by border patrol agents at the checkpoint and was made to wait in “cold wet weather.”
Fuckin’ Nazi bastard cops.
Paul Richmond ran against Norm (Sux)Dicks this last election cycle. Richmond got trounced, but he did raise some hackles as he hammered on Dicks’ support of the Hinchey-Rohrbacher amendment, the FISA bill, and some other faschist stuff I can’t remember right now. Norm Dicks is the cash cow of his district. He sux the neccessary dick to get the milk flowing to his heavily military influenced district. Aye matee, in the name of decency they’ve cleansed the gates of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard of its whores, but they’ll never rid themselves of Norm Dicks.
@15
Paul Richmond ran against Norm (Sux)Dicks this last election cycle.
In the primary? Or was he his opponent on November 4?
I’m sure the Border Patrol can set up their roadblocks in some small towns, and those local jurisdictions would be more than happy to prosecute as long as they get to keep the offender’s vehicles under the drug seizure laws. Even if the charges are dropped, the owners have to sue to get their cars back, and in effect they have the burden of proving that they were innocent, not the other way around.
A few small towns on the interstate in the mid-west have become notorious for stting up radar traps and finding an excuse to search every car they stop, and then seizing the car if the slightest amount of pot is found. They had so many vehicles, they were giving the best ones to their deputies as “bonuses” for seizing the most assets.
The terrorists must be happy to be yanking our chain.