Truth and Justice are the Main Casualties of the War on Drugs

Dennis comments ♦ August 23, 2013 ♦ Leave a comment

ARROGANCE OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS]

The Will of the People? Well, Screw Them. Dennis L. Blewitt, Esq.

    Two reports sit on my desk. They are prepared by the 1state of Colorado and describe the toxicology lab and the Department of Health Medical Marijuana patient list. Both reports are bad. Both reports indicate that there is no supervision or control over our civil servants. Both reports describe a government out of control. In ordinary times, these reports would be enough to start a small revolution. Activists would have rallied and officials would have scrambled in fear. Now, I sit and wonder. I haven’t had any opiates since my last bout of rotator cuff problems. I follow the news. I am clear and awake. The reports could conceivably invalidate every drug and alcohol conviction in the state of Colorado and nobody seems to care. It’s not like the attorneys and judges don’t know about these reports, it’s just that they just don’t care. The prosecutors want convictions, no matter what, judges want to avoid having to make a decision, and defense attorneys don’t believe anyone gives a shit anymore so why should they. It indicates that the majority of prisoners and probationers are there because of perjury, faulty testing, negligence or bigotry. They are there because of a system, not a determination. The system wants convictions. The players give them up to feed rehab programs, education programs, victim programs and slush funds for Das when it is election time. The public is conditioned to comply and walk into the barbeque when Baal calls the Eloi to be eaten, just like in H.G. Well’s Time Machine.

“I am tired. I don’t care anymore. The people get what they deserve. I QUIT. Why do you care?” This is the response I get from my colleagues, I shouldn’t get so upset. At least that what I tell myself when overwhelmed with the news of our out of control government. I talked and lectured whenever and wherever I could about the rogue intelligence agencies and their threat to freedom. Those who knew me or my history thought I exaggerated, or was just bitter. Thankfully, not everyone. I did have some who listened and were concerned. But, not nearly enough. The ones that did listen, thought that the situation was corrected with the Watergate hearings or the “Senate Select Committee.” I followed the proceedings and was provided with some information by Senator Hart. I was somewhat hopeful. I watched the advent of citizens groups watching the military and intelligence communities. A magazine called “Counterspy” hit the press and was full of lots of information. A president resigned amidst scandal for illegal acts against the citizenry. Congress was investigating and would fix the problem… Congress fixed the problem, but not the problem that the public wanted fixed. It fixed the Government’s control problem. There were leaks. There were burglaries, there were all kinds of embarrassments to the administration and its intelligence agencies.

    First we were told that everything was OK. There were just a few rogue elephants out there that needed herding and controlling. Otherwise, everything is hunky dory. After all, we are the land of the free and the home of the brave. We are of the people, by the people and for the people. The Government has our best interests at heart. So, why worry. Let the Government handle it.

    Well they did. They published two committee reports that extensively documented the abuses of the secret government. All agencies were exposed: the FBI and Cointelpro, the CIA and the Phoenix program and others, the IRS with the SSSS, and the NSA, which was not explained as thoroughly. There was discussion, there was shock, and there was action. Now that the Government found out how the public discovered their abuses, it set about to make sure that wouldn’t happen again. Security was tightened up. Attempts of Congress such as the Boland Amendment to control military spending to promote conflict were flagrantly disregarded. American Foreign Service employees in Iran were allowed to become pawns in a presidential race. By 1980, the public forgot the lessons of the Senate hearings. The Government agencies did not. They rallied their forces, lobbyists, PACs Institutes ant think tanks that protect and advanced the propertied interests to rectify everything that the Church and Pike committees found about leaks and illegal actions of the intelligence community. The press was intimidated. Covert Action folded. Congress was subjected to sting operations to sew distrust of the elected officials. The Executive Branch staged a coup d’état, and no one seemed to notice. The Drug war escalated and the citizenry were subjected to terror.

    To help solidify this change, there was an attack on Posse Commutates, militarization of the police, training of police to become an occupying force and s massive propaganda drive against Government and drugs. Zero tolerance replaced debate. Tre was no patience with any alternative view. All must conform or go to jail. Property was seized to fund the police state.

    In is in this milieu that a group of citizens tried to reform the drug laws. Agencies such as Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, SAFER, NORMAL and researchers in academia started to speak up. Logic seemed to be irrelevant. Image was everything. If something was logical, the mantra of think of “think of the children” was raised. Since there was little science or knowledge, it was easy to sell fear. Just to make sure that there was an incentive to obey, minimum mandatory sentencing was invented. When a population is afraid, truth, lo0gic and justice doesn’t stand a chance. Stack ignorance on top of fear and we have trouble.

    I have been harping about the advent of the police state for years. When it was announced that the Defense Deportment would supply the police with equipment and personnel, I called Ron Tupa, our state representative. I explained that this would violate the posse commitatis act. His response was, “I don’t see what the problem is.” Now it has gone beyond that. And there are scathing reports that real judges should get excited over, rather than allowing District Attorneys and Attorney Generals cover up. Defense lawyers are too discouraged, prosecutors and judges too corrupt and the press to slanted and ignorant of social significance. So, here is the significance.

    The first audit discredits the state forensic chemist and her laboratory. This is an alleged independent laboratory that is to provide unbiased and accurate analysis of chemicals that might be relevant in a trial. The forensic chemist is supposed to be a recognized expert and her testimony alone can convict an accused.

    The second report exposes how the medical marijuana registry of patients has been made available to law enforcement, contrary to the laws and constitution of Colorado. These headline events caused barely a rumble among my colleagues. After all, if they get paid to defend someone, why should it matter if the person is convicted as long as he can pay the bill? Besides, the judges should change that situation. Well, the judges, when confronted with that unpleasant report tells the people that they should take it up with the legislators. The legislators are too busy or too afraid of the Police Union or District Attorney’s Association to want to rock the boat. And the DAs and Attorney Generals can’t be courageous because they have to stand for re-election or else they are so pro police state that they are cheering for moor unfairness and the “unshackling the hands of the police.”

Why am I so upset? Well, first of all, I would like to believe that all the sacrifice and stress suffered to defend the integrity of the system and for the rights of the commoner. Also, I fought this battle over methadone clinics 4 decades ago and thought that the rights of patients to drugs and privacy were pretty much established. Rarely have I tried a case in which the officer did not lie or even commit perjury. Most of the time, this has been done with the complicity and encouragement of both the judge and prosecutor. I have little hope that the public will catch on and cause some change. Also, it is frustrating for me to see the nation decline and sinking into a 3^rd world country. We are suffering from societal depression, and like the individual who is depressed, we can’t function adequately.

A year ago, I wrote an article on my blog entitled “invitation to a trial,” where I described my experience in court after hearing the testimony of the State Toxicologist. The hearing was in a part of Colorado that wants to form its own state. She lied. It came out that she was on the committee that supervises training for patrolmen and chemists for drug and DUI cases. She claimed that she was aware of the evidence of effects of marijuana on operation a vehicle. However, she was unfamiliar with the leading articles on the subject. She also participated in drafting the DOT manual for cops that describes “Green Tongue” even though the director of DOT admitted there was no scientific basis for the same. If someone got convicted, he probably had it coming because he was taking marijuana. The judge, during the hearing, stated that he had attended the forensic witness’s lectures and was familiar with their content. He was also a navy reserve officer, well versed in martial law, which, by observing his courtroom was his preference. He was a self-centered, self-righteous little prick. In any event, it became apparent that the judge viewed his job as helping the prosecutor to convict. To teach me a lesson and not rock the boat, he filed a complaint with the Bar, complaining about my conduct during the trial.

The significance of the story is that not a single colleague express interest or concern about the wholesale slaughter of justice. The Public Defender doesn’t practice law. That office just protects rights and processes cases. Green tongue? Well so much the better for business. Justice? Only if you can pay? Integrity and character? What is that? Just tell me how much I can bill and forget about it.

Unfortunately, the only time that the public gets exited is when the wrongful conviction is discovered and the state or county have to pay millions, as was the case of McMasters, in Ft. Collins. But that didn’t cause too much of a stir. Like the “rogue elephant” of the CIA, the innocent convicted or rogue prosecutors are an anomaly. Besides which, who cares about someone convicted of alcohol or drugs. They probably had it coming anyway.

So, finally to the point. What good is legislation or referendum if the law enforcement establishment ignores the law? They have their belief of drugs, marijuana, and law. That is what they are going to believe, no matter what any group of citizens say or think. As long as we have no independent judiciary or executive branch they don’t have to worry.

The really scary thing is that these so-called experts are training others to testify against the people in a criminal trial using fake science. Most of the information given by the arresting officer cannot be replicated in a lab, or anywhere else. So, we are forced to believe all cops are good and truthful and all accused are bad and should get punished, even if it is based entirely on bull-shit. This so called expert goes to lectures and sessions to decide policy and law. They get grants to do this. However, the criteria is not fairness, but how to convict more people more quickly and with less effort. Besides, most of them are poor and deserve it anyway. So, state officials and Federal officials get together and decide on the evidentiary reality. Of course, that is the one that can support the most convictions and therefore support the most programs, designed to make the public believe that the Courts and Cops are doing something other than harassing the citizenry.

The medical marijuana registry is another matter. It was designed to protect patients and comply with HIPPA, a privacy standard for patients. While being considered, there was much discussion of making registrants incriminate themselves. That is why eligibility for the list was only possible with the recommendation of a physician. Certain ailments were spelled out, which could have marijuana as an alternative treatment or medication. According to the law, one had to be sick to have a recommendation. That recommendation made a person eligible to be on the list. It is a medical matter, based upon a medical opinion. It is obviously to me that the police think they know more than physicians, scientists, criminologists, or even the public, or they just don’t give a dam. Why should the registry have greater significance than other laws or even Constitutions? They are right. We are wrong. No debate. Zero tolerance. They know that marijuana is bad, no matter what the public thinks.

Also, they do not want to give up such a lucrative revenue stream. If they disagree with the law, then they will disobey without any sanction, at least from prosecutors with robes on. All they have to do is wait until the rate of ignorance catches up with their prejudice. Their training and brainwashing cannot accept that there is any medicinal value in marijuana. As far as they are concerned, the only reason one would imbibe in the evil weed is to get high. Any pain or other symptoms is just drug seeking behavior. Just like the courts back up police murder of citizens, their perjury will be given the benefit of the doubt because we can’t afford to believe that our system is so corrupt. We value ignorance and arrogance in our society. Fact and reality don’t exist in our post-modern society. My training, education and experience wants me to cry out for the arrogance of the officials and police. We lock up more people than any other country. We have corruption that could compete with any South American Country. My training tells me this is bad. What does your training tell you?