My name is Richard M. Davis author of the HEMP FOR VICTORY book series: A GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTION, THE WONDER HERB and THE TRILLION DOLLAR CROP . I am a court stipulated expert witness on marijuana and hemp ( the two varieties are tied together under the drug laws), the founder and curator of the USA Hemp Museum (www.hempmuseum.org), a medical marijuana patient and caregiver for a bunch of people, a citizen and voter in this state, a marijuana felon, a nuclear veteran, with forty years smoking and growing Cannabis. I have testified in Steve Cooley’s court (People v. Sister Somayah Kambui) as caregiver for the defendant, and sued to have Senate Bill 420 declared unconstitutional in Superior Court.
I believe that the power and freedom given to the people of California is unique in the world. We possess as individuals inalienable rights given us by the people through the California Constitution:
“Article I, Section 1. All men are by nature free and independent, and have certain inalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty; acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness and privacy.”
From our Declaration of Independence, an inalienable right is one given us by the Creator. We in California were given a bunch of these rights. To me they all say I can grow a God given plant. Period. Case closed. What we citizens need to recognize is that all marijuana laws are bogus. Just look above at the rights I have.
1. I was told by the Second District Court of Appeals that I had no standing to challenge S.B. 420 as I had not volunteered for its conditions. S.B. 420 is a voluntary law! I am not covered by that law in any way; I have that in writing from the Attorney General, who I sued. The fact is the court refused to shoot down this unconstitutional law for me in my case because it was not “ripe” for determination. The appeals court since has ruled that plant limits are unconstitutional for the very reason they were not sent back to the people for a vote. An unconstitutional law is no law at all and need not be obeyed. They simply did not follow the constitution. S.B. 420 is void.
2. Look at the mess this unconstitutional law has brought. By constitutional law, a statewide measure (like the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, must be instituted evenly statewide. This was not done, but given to 58 California counties and hundreds of cities to concoct hundreds of different medical marijuana laws, licenses, bans, taxes. This violates the spirit and letter of our act which authorized a safe and affordable distribution to ALL Californians.
3. The only viable marijuana law in force in California is the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. If City law does not follow the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, but amends or changes it in any way or restricts its implementation it will be unconstitutional unless sent back to the people of California for a vote (just follow the law).
4. The question of federal jurisdiction comes up again and again. Here is my take. If the federal government could have stopped medical marijuana in California in 1996, they would have. The facts are they could not stop medical marijuana and here is why. In California the people have all the power. The power of the federal government is limited by the U.S. Constitution. Rights and powers not specifically enumerated in the Federal Constitution are reserved to the states or the people. There is no federal power spelled out over medical marijuana, so it was up for grabs (so to speak) through the Ninth and Tenth Amendment, and the people of California got there first. The feds and the state governments were left out in the cold. To really complicate matters in 2003, the state tried to use the power of the Ninth and Tenth Amendment to establish the power to set up an entire medical marijuana program that amended the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 in numerous ways, and failed to send it back for that vote by the people.
5. Every person in California has the right to obtain and use medical marijuana for any ailment for which marijuana provides relief. The California Supreme Court in People v. Mower called the rights and powers in the CSU of 1996, guarantees. We need to guarantee that all people of California are served with medical marijuana. New freedom is often not popular.
6. Our initiative law (again unchallenged by the federal government) allows both concentrated and edible marijuana as medicine. Amendments must be sent back to the people of California.
7. What about the “free market” that we all profess to believe in? It is the restrictions that create the black markets. If a business is not profitable or reliable, won’t it fail? And to answer the question of sales we did authorize an affordable distribution, meaning money will change hands, and we the people of California control medical marijuana even sales, not the feds. The spirit and letter of the law is to make medical marijuana available to ALL Californians in need. Please follow that spirit.
8. I believe the definition of primary caregiver can be read to include a primary caregiver for safety. Again safety being an inalienable right of individuals, it is our right to name whatever protection for that safety.
9. The CA Supreme Court in People v. Mower that medical marijuana must be treated like any other prescription drug. Any tax on medical marijuana would constitute an amendment to the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 which requires no tax on medical marijuana.
10. Lastly I heard the City Council say they needed tax money from medical marijuana. I wonder if they know that the money for California is not in medical marijuana taxes, but in a new resource we get when the plant is legal for us all. Hemp for paper, fiber, fuel, plastic, food, medicine and recreation. Our latest book on Amazon is Hemp For Victory: The Trillion Dollar Crop. The marijuana prohibition is a smokescreen to prevent the growing of hemp as a resource.
Limiting anything having to do with medical marijuana such as limiting access, or taxing patients, or I.D. cards seems to violate the spirit of the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. History will note that this act helped end the prohibition of Cannabis/hemp/marijuana.
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