The LA Weekly caught up with Farmacy spokesperson JoAnna La Force regarding the recent DEA raids on medical facilities.

Smoked Out

By Seven McDonald
Wednesday, February 14, 2007 - 6:00 pm

At West Hollywood’s Medical Marijuana Farmacy dispensary on Santa Monica Boulevard, around the corner from Whole Foods and Fountain Day elementary school, Jack Johnson is on the stereo, apple juice and water are set out for the taking, and a sign above the door reads not just “Open,” but “Very Open.” Only slightly disrupting the welcoming atmosphere, a security guardmonitors the scene just in case.

Last month, federal agents raided the Farmacy, along with 10 other L.A. County dispensaries (four others in West Hollywood alone), and many feared the shutdown was for good. But the Farmacy is back in business with nearly 20 full-time employees, one a patient himself who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, and numerous consultants, including a psychologist, two advising physicians, a legal-aid professional, a massage therapist, an herbalist (who helps answer questions about the other herbs sold here), and a registered pharmacist, JoAnna La Force, who sits on the board of directors and acts as the Farmacy’s spokesperson.

Sitting in the high-walled garden in back, La Force discusses the recent raids, which she describes as “demoralizing,” her passionate feelings about medical marijuana, and sharing a public parking lot with a private elementary school.

You were raided by the Drug Enforcement Agency, but you’re still open?

There was never any federal injunction for us to close. Basically, the Drug Enforcement Agency came in to make a statement. To my knowledge all they took was our medicine and cash on hand. The consensus, from what I hear from attorneys and other people involved, is that they wanted to make a statement to West Hollywood [dispensaries], that “just ’cause you are unregulated doesn’t mean you are exempt from federal law.” According to the Drug Policy Alliance, the DEA’s funds are being cut to support the war, so, like any other bureaucracy, they want to show their worth. The easiest thing they can hit is marijuana.

The task force that came in here [usually] does big cocaine and heroin cartels. So when they crept around the corner with their guns and everything, they thought they were going to have to bust through the door. They came in and the door was open. They actually had to help some people out — there was a guy in a wheelchair and another guy on crutches. They actually apologized to some of our staff for their dress because they had bulletproof vests and AR-15s. They were pointing them at patients’ heads.

[Afterward], incredible people came out of the woodwork. Members of our cooperative, people who grow for us, came down the next day and brought medicine and said, “Just put it on consignment and pay us when you can.” Patients were knocking on the doors going, “Please, what is gonna happen?” So we opened two days later.

What is your medical background?

I am a registered clinicalpharmacist and I have my board certification in geriatrics. For the last 20 years I’ve worked with the elderly, and the last 15 years with hospice. I do pain management for patients in hospice who have less than six months to live. That is where I became interested in medical cannabis. Oftentimes I had elderly [patients] or their families ask me, “I really want to try medical cannabis. How do we go about getting it?” And I would say, “Gosh, I don’t know.” What they find is that it helps reduce the anxiety and depression associated with pain, especially with chronic pain; it’s just amazing that people can have [their] quality of life [return] and go back to work. When I saw that, I knew that I needed to find a way to help people have safe access, basically.

So, you view marijuana like any other drug you might prescribe?

I view it as a medicinal herb. If I could wave my magic wand, I would not only reclassify cannabis, I’d declassify it [from the DEA’s drug schedules] and put it in the same type of classification as [the medicinal herbs] valerian or kava kava. That’s where it should be. I would like to take the economical and political importance out of it and let it just be there as a source of healing for people.

Marijuana is a Schedule I [drug], which means it is highly addictive and has no medical use, which is absurd. Methamphetamine is considered a Schedule II — in other words it is a drug of high abuse but it has medical value, because they use it for narcolepsy and other things. As long as marijuana remains a Schedule I drug, the DEA says they will enforce it until the end.

You’re around the corner from an elementary school, Fountain Day School, where some parents have complained about having to be confronted with the dispensary and answer questions about drugs before they feel their kids are ready to handle the information. Do you understand the awkwardness a parent might feel about discussingmedical marijuana? There are a lot of assumptions people make about it.

I think it is [about] educating people and letting them see it is not a terrible thing. It’s fear, and we need to get over that. Terminology is very important. We are a medical center — that is what we are. We don’t use [the words] “pot,” “weed,” “getting high.” That is not what we are about. When you have patients who are very ill, you want to know how it works for them. What I would like parents to know is that we work very hard with the school to make the neighborhood as safe and positive as possible. I am inregular contact with Andrew [Rakos], the director of the school, to immediately take care of any problems or concerns, of which we have had none in the last seven months that I am aware of.

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When Reverend Craig X Rubin was arrested at his house of worship he asked the lead LAPD officer for the special rights accorded to clergy under California Penal Codes 1524 and 1525, but was told by the officer that his Bible-based Judeo-Christian organization, that was recognized by the state of California, was “not practicing a real religion.” Temple 420 is a registered religious organization with the State of California (CA Corporation #C2791851) and Reverend Rubin has been ordained by a church that has passed the State’s organizational test in court. Members of the congregation use cannabis in their temple - a practice that has gotten them into trouble with the LAPD.

People know Reverend Craig X Rubin for the role he plays, as the owner of the medical marijuana club, on the hit show “Weeds” on Showtime; but what people don’t know is that he is a messianic Jewish preacher on the weekends.

Temple 420 on Hollywood Blvd. (www.Temple420.org) has services every Saturday and Sunday at 4:20 p.m. The Old Testament is taught on Saturday and the New Testament on Sundays. The unusual thing about Temple 420 is their faith that cannabis is the “Tree of Life,” spoken about in several places in the Bible; most notably the Book of Genesis and the Book of Revelation, where it describes the leaves of this plant as being, “for the healing of all nations” because cannabis, sometimes called hemp, is so versatile as a natural resource.

“Ending the prohibition on cannabis will get us out of the Middle East sooner,” claims Reverend Rubin, “because we can use cannabis to make fuel, thus making us more energy independent. The President keeps talking ’switch grass’ and I know which grass he should switch. Henry Ford built a hemp car that ran on hemp fuel back in the 1930s.”

The congregation feels burning the Tree of Life reminds them to follow the Laws of God, the Ten Commandments, that emanated from a burning bush. Further, they use the smoke of the plant as an intercessory to carry their prayers to God. Both Jewish and Christian members of the sect agree that cannabis is the Biblical Tree of Life and wonder why they are treated differently than the Catholic Church who actually did recently commit crimes and allegedly covered them up.

“Could you imagine the type of paramilitary force that invaded our temple, kicking down the doors of the Catholic Church to get information on alleged pedophile priests — yet that is exactly what they did in our house of worship.” Officers kicked their way into the sanctuary with weapons pointed, without the slightest thought or care of putting their paramilitary boots on the Holy Cross and Star of David on the custom made temple doors. The Reverend continued, “I was taught in California public schools all the way through graduating from UCLA. I have seven children, have no criminal record, and yet without a conviction the LAPD has seized all of my personal assets, leaving my family penniless and about to be homeless.”

February 13, 2007 the Reverend responded as the City of Los Angeles tried to permanently seize control of the Reverend’s life savings. He had 30 days to respond or his worldly assets became their property. When filing his response and requesting a quick resolution he was told by Sharon Terry of the District Attorney’s Office, “Not to expect a hearing anytime soon” as the City was busy. Meanwhile, the Reverend and his family are being evicted, as their assets are held for an indefinite period of time, and the Temple’s only income comes from donations via the Internet.

According to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the authorities can only use “the least restrictive means necessary” if they feel a religious organization is violating rules of general applicability. That is why Reverend Rubin has filed a complaint with the LAPD (CF07-000151) and has given notice to the city of his intent to sue for religious discrimination and violations of his civil rights. The complaint alleges that Officer Trayce Fields knew on August 25, 2006 that Reverend Rubin was an ordained minister teaching the Bible at his Hollywood Temple and she did not give that information as required by law to the judge who issued the warrant.

“American churches should be concerned about religious freedoms at this time in our history. That is why I took this case. Temple 420 is reaching people other churches don’t,” says defense council La’Chelle Woodert, as she represents Reverend Rubin, who is facing seven years in prison for his religious beliefs.

This article originally appeared on the Send2Press Newswire.

If you’d like more information on Temple 420, please visit their website at Temple420.org.

Last November, voters adopted Measure Z. The measure mandates that police make most marijuana crimes their lowest priority. (Exceptions include crimes involving minors or public property.) It also requires the formation of a council of citizens to oversee implementation.

The Santa Cruz City Council has a problem with that.

The City Council shudders at the thought of the rabble being involved in government. And since citizen involvement is exactly what Measure Z prescribes, the City Council must instead take the matter to the courts. City Attorney John Barisone is working feverishly to overturn the will of the voters.

Barisone states openly that the city is concerned about having a group of civilians involved. “The committee would be giving direct orders to the Police Department,” City Attorney John Barisone said. “Even council members can’t call the police and say, ‘Do this,’ or, ‘Do that.’

This is not what the voters are trying to do. The function of the council is to ensure that Measure Z is being respected. If the City Council is worried about the voters insisting on the law being executed, it’s fair to ask Council members what type of government they think they have in Santa Cruz.

Seattle already has an oversight committee. They look at police reports. It’s part of a concept where the citizens play a role in how their government functions. They decide for themselves how their tax money will be spent and the police work for the citizens.

In Santa Cruz, the citizens are being treated as subjects. If this continues, the people will face a choice; they will bow their heads and accept a Council of Masters or they will sweep the floors and bring in a new government. We will be watching.

If you are a concerned citizen or have thoughts that you’d like to share with the City Council, they can be reached at:

809 Center Street, Room 10
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831) 420-5020
e-mail: citycouncil@ci.santa-cruz.ca.us

Read Shanna McCord’s report at SantaCruzSentinel.com.

When the DEA attacked 11 medical facilties in January of 2007, it turned the spotlight on Los Angeles in a way it could not have intended. Now LA is right where she likes to be - under the spotlight, center stage. And when the City of Angels catches the limelight, you know it’s the start of something huge.

Rolling Stone is now hip to LA marijuana. An article titled “The Great California Weed Rush” ran today and told the nation what LA Times Magazine told locals three days ago - freedom has a foothold in Los Angeles.

Some, like Daniel, are fighting to protect that freedom.
The Great California Weed Rush
How medical marijuana is turning L.A. pot dealers into semilegit businessmen - no beeper required

VANESSA GRIGORIADIS

THC BREATH STRIPS. That’s what Daniel is thinking about — taking some of those gelatinous Scotch-tape thingies that Listermint makes and putting oil made from marijuana trim in them. There’s a guy who’s good at producing marijuana concentrates, and he figured out how to bind oil to pullulan, the same carbohydrate gel that Listermint uses for its strips. Now a bunch of people are selling the things, in plastic baggies with a sticker reading for medical use only for five or six dollars a strip. Most people recommend taking only one, even though they don’t kick in for a long time, because two will knock your dick in the dirt for six to eight hours.

“Everything in America is controlled by big corporations now,” says Daniel, breezing down the Los Angeles 405 freeway, the controlled climate inside the car the same balmy seventy degrees as it is outside. “But in my industry we can still get individuals together and innovate with good, old- fashioned Yankee know-how, like we did at the beginning of the history of this country.” He checks the rearview mirror. “It’s a beautiful thing.”

The industry that Daniel is talking about is medical marijuana, the great new frontier that has opened up in California in recent years (because some of how Daniel operates may be illegal, his name and other details have been changed to conceal his identity). Contrary to popular belief, medical marijuana is not only for AIDS and cancer patients: The health statute associated with Prop 215, the groundbreaking law passed ten years ago, legitimizes weed for those with any “illness for which marijuana provides relief.” There are a lot of people who fall into this category, and business is good for those who make a living by serving them: compassionate caregivers, freedom fighters, botanists in love with the art of growing, Long Beach homeys, Valley boys, Oakland thugs and even one savvy gal who wants her girlfriends to sell medical marijuana while wearing pasties. But as in any drug business, a criminal element persists — storage lockers of product, safes of cash, hustlers trying to rob those lockers and safes, guns to protect one from the hustlers, and the constant risk of arrest.

Today, the word “pot” is no longer PC — marijuana is “medicine.” Schwag is “low-grade medicine,” and chronic is “high-grade medicine.” Growers are “vendors.” Nor is Daniel a drug dealer — he is a “medical-marijuana provider.” In December, there was even a medical-marijuana “cannabis cup” (a weed-tasting competition) in a Hollywood warehouse across from Amoeba Records. As Cypress Hill’s B-Real performed, patients got stoned the healthy way, with 100 percent natural cellulose rolling papers and herbal pipes filled with products like bubble hash, made by extracting resin via ice. At one booth, a NorCal “vendor” sold eighths of Kush, two dead bobcats splayed on the table next to his cash register; at another, a mustached guy in green hospital scrubs hawked pizza slices with a gram of weed inside, and “medicated BBQ chicken breast” for ten dollars each. “I’ve been astonished by the way medical marijuana has become a commercial business,” says Dale Gieringer, director of California NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) and a Prop 215 author. “The energy is in medical marijuana for the younger generation, and there’s an actual economy of it.”

Read the entire original at Rolling Stone

The DEA is pushing back hard - but it is only buying time. The DEA doesn’t have enough guns, boots, or zip-tie handcuffs to face off against the people of Los Angeles if they should continue to deny the people their Liberty. There is no way the people of LA can be denied.

Los Ansterdam is coming.

A new line of argument against marijuana may be beginning to emerge.

The government has been telling us that marijuana has no medicinal value. The latest science is saying otherwise. Now the government tacitly admits the benefits of marijuana, but claims to be concerned about smoke inhalation.

We can solve this problem overnight. Not many marijuana users will take issue with a warning label that reads: For vaporization only.

The Washington Post ran a fair article on the study and the dispute today:

Research Supports Medicinal Marijuana AIDS Patients in Controlled Study Had Significant Pain Relief

By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 13, 2007; Page A14

AIDS patients suffering from debilitating nerve pain got as much or more relief by smoking marijuana as they would typically get from prescription drugs — and with fewer side effects — according to a study conducted under rigorously controlled conditions with government-grown pot.

In a five-day study performed in a specially ventilated hospital ward where patients smoked three marijuana cigarettes a day, more than half the participants tallied significant reductions in pain.

By contrast, less than one-quarter of those who smoked “placebo” pot, which had its primary psychoactive ingredients removed, reported benefits, as measured by subjective pain reports and standardized neurological tests.

The White House belittled the study as “a smoke screen,” short on proof of efficacy and flawed because it did not consider the health impacts of inhaling smoke.

But other doctors and advocates of marijuana policy reform said the findings, in today’s issue of the journal Neurology, offer powerful evidence that the Drug Enforcement Administration’s classification of cannabis as having “no currently accepted medical use” is outdated.

Read the rest of this entry »

Concluding that there is an inadequate supply of marijuana for medical research, an administrative law judge has recommended to the Drug Enforcement Administration that it grant a Massachusetts professor’s application to grow the drug in bulk.The judge’s ruling is nonbinding. But officials at the American Civil Liberties Union hope that the recommendation to grant the application of Professor Lyle Craker will eventually lead to more research into the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

In June 2001, Craker submitted an application as a marijuana manufacturer to the DEA. However, the federal government limits the growing of marijuana available for clinical research to one source, the University of Mississippi.

Federal officials said that Craker’s university, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is free to compete for the next contract to produce research-grade marijuana for the United States. But there was no basis to add another producer.

The company that wants to fund Craker’s facility for growing marijuana countered that researchers are not getting the quantity or the quality of marijuana needed to conduct research that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The DEA contacted researchers and determined otherwise, so hearings were held in August and December of 2006 as Craker pursued the case. He got help from the ACLU along the way.

The administrative law judge, Mary Ellen Bittner, concluded Monday that granting Craker’s application would be in the public interest. Among the reasons she cited were inadequate competition and an inadequate supply of marijuana for research purposes.

Steve Robertson, a spokesman for DEA, said Monday night the agency is reviewing Bittner’s decision and would have no immediate comment. The DEA administrator, Karen Tandy, retains final authority to decide on the application.

“I hope that Administrator Tandy abides by the decision and grants me the opportunity to do my job unimpeded by drug war politics,” Craker said in a statement distributed by the ACLU.

Don’t hold your breath, Craker. The DEA is not interested in what is right or what is fair - it cares only about power and budget.

The DEA has shown a disdain for democracy with its reaction to Prop 215. It has demonstrated a total disregard for human decency by shoving machine guns in the faces of terminal cancer patients during raids on dispensaries. When it comes to marijuana, it is unlikely the DEA will suddenly bow its head and take orders from an administrative law judge. To reign in these rogue cops would take an order from the President.

We should expect one.

In 1999, a reporter in Seattle asked candidate George Bush what he thought of medical marijuana. “I believe each state can choose that decision as they so choose,” he answered. As the DEA is an executive agency, the President should order that it stand down in the face of medical marijuana and respect the will of the people. President Bush should lead in the area of states’ rights. He should walk his talk.

To do anything less would be a colossal flip-flop.

That’s what American taxpayers spent last year according to Paul Armentano’s article on Alternet.org.

American taxpayers are now spending more than a billion dollars per year to incarcerate its citizens for pot. That’s according to statistics recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics.

According to the new BJS report, “Drug Use and Dependence, State and Federal Prisoners, 2004,” 12.7 percent of state inmates and 12.4 percent of federal inmates incarcerated for drug violations are serving time for marijuana offenses. Combining these percentages with separate U.S. Department of Justice statistics on the total number of state and federal drug prisoners suggests that there are now about 33,655 state inmates and 10,785 federal inmates behind bars for marijuana offenses. The report failed to include estimates on the percentage of inmates incarcerated in county and/or local jails for pot-related offenses.

Multiplying these totals by U.S. DOJ prison expenditure data reveals that taxpayers are spending more than $1 billion annually to imprison pot offenders.
Continue reading original

For most people, it’s hard to look at national budget numbers and know whether or not to be upset. One billion seems like a lot, but sometimes people don’t have anything to compare it to. It would be a good bet that most folks couldn’t tell you if the entire GDP was closer to $13 billion, $13 trillion, or $130 trillion.

To get an idea of what kind of priority $1 billion amounts to for American taxpayers, let’s do what the politicos do – let’s talk about terrorism.

On October 12, 2001, the FBI requested $1.5 billion to respond to the attacks of September 11. The White House Office of Management and Budget cut that request to $531 million.

Whatever one thinks about the strength of the US economy, the fact is that right now we spend more than we earn as a nation (US consumer savings is still negative) and as a government. Our resources are extremely limited.

That’s why the White House Office of Management and Budget cut that request to $531 million. It would be the height of cynicism to believe that the President would not have spent everything the US could have to respond to that day. We did. And we spent half what we spend jailing potheads.

One billion dollars is significant because it illustrates a priority that is mandated by the US government but totally out of step with the average American. This government is supposed to be representative, but on the issue of marijuana it has gone out of control.

A Declaration was once drafted - on paper made from the finest marijuana - as a response to just such a detachment. If we’re going to teach the Middle East how to govern, we can begin by respecting the values of our own Great Experiment.

Tomorrow’s New Zealand Herald is running a story titled Obama owns up to cannabis, cocaine use as teen. Of course, this isn’t new information. Celebstoner.com ran this piece in January, while Obama was already forthcoming about his past back in 1995.

Obama wrote the following in his book Dreams from My Father:

I blew a few smoke rings, remembering those years. Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though - Mickey, my potential initiator, had been just a little too eager for me to go through with that. Said he could do it blindfolded, but he was shaking like a faulty engine when he said it…

Junkie. Pothead. That’s where I’d been headed; the final fatal role of the would-be black man.

Although insignificant in 1995, that quote has become a lot more interesting recently as Americans have begun entertaining thoughts of a “President Obama.” But will this ever be news again?

Democrats did not even consider the issue worthy of discussion when Bill Clinton admitted to smoking, but not inhaling, marijuana. And Republicans were more concerned with the betrayal behind (rather than the content of) the following transcript between President George W. Bush and Doug Wead. It was recorded in 1998 as Bush was contemplating a run for the Whitehouse.

GEORGE BUSH: (inaudible) it doesn’t matter – cocaine, it’d be the same with marijuana. I wouldn’t answer the marijuana question.

DOUG WEAD: Uh-hunh.

GEORGE BUSH: Do you know why? Because I don’t want some little kid doin’ what I tried.

DOUG WEAD: Yeah, and it never stops, the question.

GEORGE BUSH: But you gotta understand, I want to be President, I want to lead, I want to set… do you want your little kid to say hey Daddy, President Bush tried marijuana, I think I will?

So perhaps the issue is no longer an issue. And if that’s the case for the President of the United States, it should also be the case for the people from whom he derives his power.

Have you considered getting a marijuana recommendation but are unsure of the process? Do you qualify? How much does it cost? Where do you go?

The LA Times’ Michael Goldstein did the tough work of running down the details. Here is his story.

From LA Times Magazine:

A License to Chill
By Michael Goldstein, Michael Goldstein has written for the New York Daily News, Sunset and other publications. His 2004 Los Angeles Times Magazine story, “Sheer Lunacy,” won a feature writing award from the Los Angeles Pr
February 11, 2007

Do you medicate? I do.

I’m not talking about Xanax or Prozac or Vicodin or their siblings. I have a “recommendation” (not a prescription, a recommendation) for pot. This puts me in a legally and socially problematic condition. The state of California says I can ingest marijuana for medicinal purposes, but the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration thinks I’m a criminal if I do. Because THC can make you feel good when you’re healthy as well as feel better when you’re sick, people who don’t know me might see me as a big-bong punch line, in a Cheech and Chong kind of way. If you pop Viagra, you’re tough and sexy; if you smoke weed, you’re half-baked. I’ve been an occasional user of pot for 30 years. Only in the past six months have I done so without risking arrest, at least as far as Sacramento is concerned. It was very easy to become a medical user, but it raised a question: Was I better off breaking the law? In Los Angeles County a recommendation can be filled at more than 100 dispensaries, many of which have been raided by the DEA. Proposition 215, the first of its kind in the nation, went into effect in 1996 and prohibits a doctor from being punished for having recommended marijuana to a patient who is “seriously ill.” A 2003 law requires the state Department of Health Services to “establish and maintain a voluntary program for the issuance of identification cards to qualified patients.”

I was aware of these laws long before last summer but hadn’t felt the urge to take advantage of them until someone stuck a flier under my windshield. It was from California Natural Pain Relief on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, and it informed me, misspellings and all, that “Medical cannabis can be recommended for the care and treatment of Cancer, Cronic pain, arthritis, Migraines, Diabetes, Insomnia, Anxiety, Aids Nausea, Epilepsy, Lupus, Depression, Eating Disorders, Menopause, PMS, Asthma, etc.”

When I visited California Natural Pain Relief, the folks there directed me to a doctor at another office. Since I experience occasional but painful attacks of gout, a form of arthritis, as well as other foot and knee pain, I brought a load of medical records and a vial full of Vioxx that I had been too scared to take. The doctor gave me a brief physical exam and a blood pressure test, discussed how marijuana could alleviate the pain and inflammation and wrote and signed an official-looking, green-trimmed recommendation. This included the doctor’s signature, a photocopy of my driver’s license and a key phrase: “approve of the use of cannabis for my patient.” I paid $150 cash.
Read the rest of this entry »

In Nebraska, this woman is committing felony child abuse.

GI mother exposes child to marijuana
(2/09/2007) KHAS-TV
A Grand Island couple is in jail Friday night after the mother of a newborn allegedly smoked marijuana and then breast fed her child. The Grand Island police department says Health and Human Services tipped them off about the couple.

When officers arrived at the house they found the mother, her baby and the woman’s boyfriend.

Officers noticed the smell of marijuana and saw a joint in plain view. The two adults were arrested.

They are expected to each be charged with one count of felony child abuse.

The 6–day old girl is in protective custody.

We are not releasing the suspect’s names in order to protect the baby’s identity.
Read original here

Would this woman have been charged with felony child abuse if she had been sipping a merlot? Of course not.

What about driving over the speed limit with her child in the car? Unlikely.

This is another case of conspicuous concern, where those who are otherwise apathetic about child welfare suddenly find their inner saint and come to the rescue of “the children.” It’s all very touching until you realize that the state of Nebraska is an abject failure when it comes to child welfare.

According to Nebraska Appleseed, “The problems in the child welfare system are numerous, as widely publicized in the media over the last year and a half, including the neglect of and tragic deaths of young children.”

In fact, Nebraska Appleseed was founded “ in direct response to the haunting reality that the State of Nebraska’s child welfare “system” is far too often failing the thousands of low-income children and families it was meant to help - and faces little to no direct accountability for its failure to act.”

Health and Human Services needs to get its priorities straight. This adventure to slay the mighty marijuana robs resources from areas that desperately need attention. In this case, it also rips a 6-day old baby from her parents.

A marijuana smoker who breastfeeds being charged as a felonious child abuser is an outrage. Even those who would burn the stoner at the stake for their hatred of the devil’s weed should have the “family values” to be concerned for the wellbeing of the infant. As usual, that concern is nowhere to be found.

“For the good of society,” the flowers have been confiscated, officers have taken an infant into custody before she is even a week old, and a mother rots in jail for having breastfed her newborn daughter. That’s America in 2007. We’ve got to make some changes.