Deputy Prosecutor Rick Damerville testified at the recent committee meeting on marijuana decriminalization held by the Hawaii County Council. During his presentation against the resolution, he trumpeted the words of King James I, who in 1604 issued a proclamation about the health hazards of tobacco.

What Mr. Damerville neglected to mention was that the king did not throw people in jail for possessing a substance used by consenting adults. Such a policy would have filled the jails and reduced productivity across the land. Instead, he took a wiser course. He educated his subjects about the dangers of tobacco and he regulated and controlled its use by applying tax rates as high as six shillings and 10 pence per imported pound.

As a Canadian police officer visiting Hawaii for the first time, I was surprised by Mr. Damerville’s opposition marijuana reform. While off-duty, I volunteer with an international non-profit organization called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. LEAP is group of judges, prosecutors, police officers and correctional staff who seek to end the global war on drugs. We don’t support or encourage drug abuse, or breaking the law. However, we believe that a system of regulation would be more ethical and less harmful than prohibition. We seek gradually to legalize and regulate all drugs in order to minimize the crime, addiction, disease and death generated by the black market for illegal drugs.

Perhaps Mr. Damerville will consider joining us?

David Bratzer

Victoria, BC Canada

PEACEFUL SKY ALLIANCE SUPPORTS COUNCILMAN GREENWELL’S EFFORTS TO ENCOURAGE THE DECRIMINALIZATION OF MARIJUANA  December 15, 2009

This resolution 281-009 proposed by Mr. Greenwell has the primary focus of addressing the need to decriminalize the use of Cannabis in Hawaii.

Councilman Greenwell of District 8, Hawaii County

The Peaceful Sky Alliance supports Mr. Greenwell’s resolution. We have specific recommendations for Mr. Greenwell as to how he can improve this legislation so that it addresses specific Hawaii Statutes that require harsh penalties and create criminals out of otherwise law-abiding citizens and we will be submitting these to the Hawaii County Council when the bill appears for first reading before a committee

Mr. Greenwell’s resolution reflects the mood of the country at large and we see it as a positive step recognizing the inappropriate and harsh sentencing for marijuana use.

Such measures of decriminalizing as proposed in Resolution 281 represent cost-saving measures because resources can be better directed towards more pressing matters of community safety and wellbeing.

Here in Hawaii County, the Peaceful Sky Alliance continues to identify for the Council violations of the Lowest Law Enforcement Priority of Cannabis Ordinance. The County needs to implement this voter initiative, which is the ‘first step’ in the process Mr. Greenwell proposes for decriminalization in the County of Hawaii. Today, December 15, 2009 represents another opportunity for Board Members to address this matter with Hawaii County Council and remind them of their obligations.

Peaceful Sky Alliance will make specific suggestions to Mr. Greenwell and the Council regarding amendments that would cite specific statutes of Hawaii State law that should be revised, amended or repealed in order to remove harsh and unjust penalties for use of Cannabis.

Further, we hope that in a revision of this Resolution, Mr Greenwell could specifically mention the urgent need to address the problem of ICE in our community. A study performed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse 1991-1994 final report (ICE and Other Methamphetamine Use: An exploratory Study) showed findings that the effect of marijuana eradication was to drive up the street price of Cannabis and cause a rise in use of methamphetamines which became a cheaper alternative to Cannabis.

Mahalo to Councilman Greenwell for proposing Resolution 281-09. We applaud him for his leadership and the steps he is taking to  legislate that the personal use of Cannabis by responsible adults in the State of Hawaii be decriminalized.

CONTACT: Peaceful Sky Alliance Vice President   – Matthew Rifkin

Phone: 917 378 9123
email: peacefulskyhawaii@gmail.com
www.peacefulskyalliance.org

Breckenridge is a ski-resort town near Denver Colorado that just passed an ordinance to decriminalize Cannabis at the same time that the voters in Hawaii County passed one here. It looks like the Breckenridge Police Chief is better prepared to get behind such a law than our own Police Chief who has yet to issue a public statement in support of this law.

A new set of marijuana laws is nearing approval in Breckenridge, where possession of the drug and paraphernalia by people over 21 is to be decriminalized Jan. 1.

The regulations would make public display and consumption of marijuana punishable by a $100 fine and up to 15 days in jail.

Breckenridge police chief Rick Holman said he doesn’t foresee much change in the town that, in 2008, issued only 10 tickets for possession of small amounts of marijuana and four for possession of paraphernalia under the municipal laws.“We’ve never had a high incidence of public display and use in Breckenridge,” he said. “I don’t expect that to change.” Holman acknowledged that “some people are mis-educated” about what passed in this month’s ballot initiative for decriminalization.

Use of marijuana at Breckenridge Ski Resort remains illegal under the Colorado Ski Safety Act. The town will continue to prohibit selling and driving under the influence of the drug. The town on its website explains that non-medical marijuana possession still violates state laws, and that the local police “may still exercise, at their discretion, the authority to charge those in violation of state or federal law.”

Holman has said such enforcement would vary depending on the situation.Unlike the city of Denver — which decriminalized pot in 2005 — the Breckenridge town code will specifically allow for people over 21 to possess paraphernalia.The draft to which town council gave preliminary approval on Tuesday also allows for transfer without sale of less than an ounce of marijuana between people. Sale of marijuana remains a felony.Possession between 1 ounce and 8 ounces is still to be a misdemeanor in the town, with possession of more than 8 ounces a felony.Election results earlier this month reflect about 71 percent of town residents who voted favored decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana.

This is what the ‘Drug War’ has done to our Law Enforcement’s sense of what it is important to be focusing on. Do you see what happened to the arrest rates in California  for rape, murder and other crimes including ‘all other drug sales’? They went down.What went up, according to these statistics was the arrest rate for Cannabis (marijuana) posession. It went up 127%!

This is a map of the USA showing where Cannabis offenses are already a lower priority for Law Enforcement.

Our recent ordinance passed on November 4, 2008 was a message from the voters in Hawaii County that they want to see a change in the priorities of law enforcement. They want to take ‘Cannabis Offenses’ off the highest priority list and help our Police and Prosecutions get their focus off of ‘pot’ and back where it belongs.. on the welfare of the community.

That’s why counties and municipalities all over the country are passing or have passed similar legislation. They realize that there is

something wrong with the fact that so much money and time is spent going after people who use Cannabis. They don’t believe it is a dangerous drug. They don’t even believe that the people who use it are ‘criminals’.

The Drug War isn’t working for a lot of us out here and we are the ones whose taxes pay your salaries.. so please listen up.

Could this be a sign?

Marijuana is not a dangerous drug, even the AMA says so. 'Zero' is how many deaths per year is caused by Cannabis as opposed to the 'legal' drugs that do kill people every year.

Another issue that keeps coming up here in Hawaii County concerns judges who are making ‘medical determinations’ concerning Cannabis. Frequently the judges will make it a condition of probation that the defendent is NOT to use Cannabis while on probation (remember that probation can sometimes be up to 10 years). We’ve seen judges ‘override’ advice from a medical physician that a defendant be allowed to use Cannabis even when there is a serious medical condition.

Local man used to use Cannabis for pain relief and his judge has forced him to use VIOXX, a drug with known deadly side effects:

Here’s what we heard from one such ‘medical marijuana’ patient who is going though the courts. He has a serious medical condition and is now required to take a medication that is known to be harmful:

Vioxx is a drug I used, before I found marijuana worked well for my arthritis. It is the class of drugs I have to use now instead of marijuana because the judge in my case does not believe in medical marijuana……..Why are judges allowed to make medical decisions for me that can cause me liver damage or even a heart attack……..that is ridicules, and very dangerous, but if I were to use marijuana, that has no side effects I have ever seen he made it clear he would throw me in jail. Reefer madness is alive and well. Judges are not doctors the decision about what is the safest effective treatment is a decision for the patient

Pills, anyone?

and doctor to make. The judges are saying well there is another drug to treat that so I will jail you if you use marijuana. Read the insert in these drugs. The one I have to use is “declofinac” and I read that side effects include liver damage, heart attack and death. These aren’t acceptable ‘side effects’. The doctor said to use it for 30 days and then stop for 30 days to be safe. Marijuana works and has never killed anyone or destroyed anyone’s liver…..

The government is out of control, judges now get to decide I have to use very dangerous drugs instead of a safe one……….

Here’s the ‘bad’ about Vioxx:

The Vioxx scandal widened this week as new research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine reveals that Vioxx maker Merck held data for three years that proved Vioxx caused an alarming increase in the risk of heart attacks and strokes. And yet Merck chose not to release that data. In fact, it took three more years of patients dying from heart attacks before Vioxx was pulled off the market, and even then, Merck insisted the drug was not dangerous.

This new study was based on a meta-analysis of several unpublished studies that Merck obviously didn’t want to see published in medical journals. Drug companies routinely engage in this subterfuge: They cherry-pick which studies they want published while burying the rest. They also choose which studies to forward to the FDA, all while claiming the whole charade is based on “evidence-based medicine.”

It is, sort of. If you add the word “selective” in front of the phrase, making it: “Selective evidence-based medicine.”

So how were the authors of this new study able to find these unpublished studies that Merck would much prefer remained hidden? They were disclosed in court proceedings against Merck. So many people were harmed by Vioxx, you see, that some of them decided to sue. And in that legal process, many “secret” studies were revealed. Some smart-minded researchers decided to analyze the data in those studies and that’s what reveals Merck knew Vioxx raised the risk of heart-related side effects by 35 percent and yet did nothing to warn the public about those risks.

Vioxx anyone? How come a judge is making the decision that someone has to take this medication when it literally appears to be a prescription for a heart attack? The judges make rulings that registered 'medical marijuana' users can't use Cannabis in spite of physicians recommendations.

In essence, these documents prove that Merck knowingly and maliciously allowed a deadly drug to continue to be sold to patients for years. It’s a clear case of profits before patients from a drug company mired in one scandal after another. (Merck is also the maker of Gardasil, the cervical cancer vaccine.)

In its defense, Merck says its own scientists couldn’t find any link between Vioxx and heart attack deaths. Understandably, it’s difficult to find anything when your profits depend on not finding it.

The Merck conspiracy
Now that this data is public, it reveals that Merck’s executives and / or employees were engaged in a conspiracy to withhold important drug safety data from the public and the FDA. The aim of this conspiracy was simple: To maximize profits through the sale of a product they knew was killing people.

Of course, only the naive are surprised to hear this. Informed NaturalNews readers already know this is the default behavior of drug companies. They’ll do anything to make a buck, including fabricating clinical trial data, withholding important evidence, misrepresenting their drugs in television ads and lobbying lawmakers to make their drugs mandatory. The idea that they would knowingly sell a deadly drug to the general public — while sitting on data for years that proved the drug was dangerous — isn’t really surprising. Not once you know how the pharmaceutical industry really works, anyway.

Many people (and many states) are fed up with the criminal behavior of drug companies. Nearly 10,000 individuals filed personal injury lawsuits against Merck over the Vioxx scandal. Most were settled for $4.85 billion in 2007, but many lawsuits remain. Eleven states’ Attorneys General have also filed lawsuits against Merck, alleging the company committed fraud in its marketing of the drug to state Medicaid programs. Those lawsuits have yet to be resolved.

More legal action against Merck is no doubt on the way, as the company has engaged in questionable marketing practices spanning many different drugs (not just Vioxx). Drug companies like Merck have operated in the shadows for years, hiding data they knew would be damaging to their profits. These actions no doubt resulted in the needless deaths of tens of thousands of health consumers who would likely be alive today if this hidden data had been made public in 2001 when it was first known by Merck.

Merck’s actions fit the legal definition of “negligent homicide.” By withholding this important information, Merck indirectly caused the deaths of thousands of people. And yet somehow Merck’s executives and employees are literally “getting away with murder” as there are no efforts under way to prosecute these people for their crimes.

I have to ask the obvious question: Why aren’t Merck’s executives being arrested and hauled off to prison for prosecution? If this were a Wall Street scandal, you’d see the head honchos in handcuffs, paraded on videos blasted across the evening news. But when it comes to pharmaceuticals, it’s just business as usual. No one is held accountable. All those dead Americans essentially have their graves spit on by the failed justice system in this country that allows murderous corporations to continue killing more people with their deadly products.

The reason for all this is simple: America values money more than it values lives. When peoples’ investments are destroyed, that’s a crime. But when peoples’ lives are destroyed by a dangerous pharmaceutical product, that’s nobody’s fault. Accountability is non-existent.

It sure puts America’s priorities into perspective, doesn’t it? Public safety has been all but abandoned by the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry — an industry ruled by nothing other than the almighty dollar. And yet, here’s something that puts it all into yet more perspective: According to Congressional testimony about Vioxx from drug safety experts, Vioxx alone killed more Americans than the entire Vietnam War.

Is that something worth investigating for potential prosecution? If you value human life, then yes, absolutely. So why do Merck’s executives all seem to be immune to the law? Why is the Department of Justice too timid to go after one of the most dangerous organizations in the country that has killed many times more Americans than all terrorists combined?

Why isn’t Merck on the FBI’s “America’s Most Wanted” list?

And why do the American people tolerate such corporate behavior on their own soil? Is killing people with chemicals any less serious than killing people with bullets? Imagine the public outcry if a car company sold a defective vehicle that resulted in the deaths of more than 60,000 people… that would be shocking headline news. But when it comes to pharmaceutical deaths, the people remain strangely silent.

And the reason? There’s no video footage of people dying. Pharmaceutical deaths are silent, whimpering deaths. No fiery crashes. No flying body parts. No explosions to splash across the evening news. Just millions of people being individually and chemically snuffed out, all around the world, after taking patented prescription drugs sold by companies that lied to them about their safety.

“When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.”

“Arthritis pain allieviated.. Even if it Kills you…”

Gratitude begins right here

We are thankful to all the people in Hawaii County who believe that our County could be ‘better’… more compassionate, more secure, more peaceful & more prosperous.

We are thankful to people who, for 30 years have worked to see an end to ‘Green Harvest’ in Hawaii County.

We are thankful for the 35,000 voters who came out and said ‘something isn’t right about this’ and who voted and passed this ordinance into law.

We are thankful for the people who haven’t given up on the fact that this is a County Law and they are willing to work to make sure it is fully implemented.

We are thankful for each and every opportunity we have to participate in government and to identify where we think it could be ‘better’, fairer and more compassionate.

We are thankful for an ordinance that makes way for some major changes in the way government is done here in the County of Hawaii.

We are thankful to all the people everywhere who have stood up for the truth about a plant that never should have been schedule 1 (as dangerous as heroin).

We are thankful for all the freedoms and liberties we have in a democracy to participate in making a better government for now and for the future.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Peaceful Sky Alliance!

Do we think the community of Hawaii County is interested in knowing how Cannabis could contribute to economic recovery here on this island? …Yes we do.

We’re not so sure about editor David Bock of the Hawaii Tribune-Herald though. In today’s papers, compared with the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, The West Hawaii Today ran a longer and ‘bigger’ story about the new ‘Cannabis Cafe’ that opened last week in Oregon. The Tribune-Herald ran the a small picture and a story only a few paragraphs long.

Not to worry though, if you are a Hawaii Tribune-Herald reader or you just want to know more about the ‘Cannabis Cafe’ … read below (This is a story run by Reuters press on Saturday November 14, 2009 by By Dan Cook). We couldn’t find an online version of the West Hawaii Today story that ran today (but if someone out there has it… send it on to us!)

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Here is Marilyn Martinez, executive Director of of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). NORML operates a new cafe in Portland Oregon that is dedicated exclusively to those who are users of 'medical marijuana' and registered patients with the State of Oregon. Oregon has nearly 24,000 medical marijuana patients who are registered. This story ran in West Hawaii Today, November 24, 2009.

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) – The United States’ first marijuana cafe opened on Friday, posing an early test of the Obama administration’s move to relax policing of medical use of the drug.

The Cannabis Cafe in Portland, Oregon, is the first to give certified medical marijuana users a place to get hold of the drug and smoke it — as long as they are out of public view — despite a federal ban.

“This club represents personal freedom, finally, for our members,” said Madeline Martinez, Oregon’s executive director of NORML, a group pushing for marijuana legalization.

“Our plans go beyond serving food and marijuana,” said Martinez. “We hope to have classes, seminars, even a Cannabis Community College, based here to help people learn about growing and other uses for cannabis.”

The cafe — in a two-story building which formerly housed a speak-easy and adult erotic club Rumpspankers — is technically a private club, but is open to any Oregon residents who are NORML members and hold an official medical marijuana card.

Members pay $25 per month to use the 100-person capacity cafe. They don’t buy marijuana, but get it free over the counter from “budtenders”. Open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., it serves food but has no liquor license.

There are about 21,000 patients registered to use marijuana for medical purposes in Oregon. Doctors have prescribed marijuana for a host of illnesses, including Alzheimer’s, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and Tourette’s syndrome.

On opening day, reporters invited to the cafe could smell, but were not allowed to see, people smoking marijuana.

“I still run a coffee shop and events venue, just like I did before we converted it to the Cannabis Cafe, but now it will be cannabis-themed,” said Eric Solomon, the owner of the cafe, who is looking forward to holding marijuana-themed weddings, film festivals and dances in the second-floor ballroom.

NO PROSECUTION

The creation of the cafe comes almost a month after the Obama administration told federal attorneys not to prosecute patients who use marijuana for medical reasons or dispensaries in states which have legalized them.

About a dozen states, including Oregon, followed California’s 1996 move to adopt medical marijuana laws, allowing the drug to be cultivated and sold for medical use. A similar number have pending legislation or ballot measures planned.

Pot cafes, known as “coffee shops”, are popular in the Dutch city of Amsterdam, where possession of small amounts of marijuana is legal. Portland’s Cannabis Cafe is the first of its kind to open in the United States, according to NORML.

Growing, possessing, distributing and smoking marijuana are still illegal under U.S. federal law, which makes no distinction between medical and recreational use.

Federal and local law enforcement agencies did not return phone calls from Reuters on Friday seeking comment on the Portland cafe’s operations.

“To have a place that is this open about its activities, where people can come together and smoke — I say that’s pretty amazing.” said Tim Pate, a longtime NORML member, at the cafe.

Some locals are hoping it might even be good for business.

“I know some neighbors are pretty negative about this place opening up,” said David Bell, who works at a boutique that shares space with the cafe. “But I’m withholding judgment. There’s no precedent for it. We don’t know what to expect. But it would great if it brought some customers into our store.”

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Another case where we know of the Office of The Prosecuting Attorney prosecuting a case that should have been dropped if Mr. Kimura and his office were in compliance with the Lowest Law Enforcement Priority of Cannabis Ordinance is described below:

Hawaiian Acres Resident had an amount that was below the amount limited to ‘Adult Personal Use’.

How would you like threats of a jail term hanging over your head for three years? Too many people are still in court over Cannabis charges that should have been dropped after November 4, 2008 when the Lowest Law Enforcement Priority of Cannabis Ordinance was passed. It's against this County Law that they are still being prosecuted.

A man with three medical marijuana licenses on his fridge was raided in 2006 by Officer John Weber. This guy has been in court ever since. He had 23 plants and an alleged amount of dried material. Officer Weber denied that there were three marijuana licenses on the fridge but the court has since found that in fact, there were three medical marijuana licenses applicable to the property. Officer Weber also weighed the material that was ‘drying’ but not ‘dry’. When it was weighed, stems and stalks were included. In the specific regulations relating to dried product, ONLY the flowering part of the plant (the buds) are to be counted. What it did back then was allow Weber to arrest our Hawaiian Acres man because in theory he was ‘over’ the limit allowed.Then the person whom this case concerns was indicted by a Grand Jury and has been in court ever since.

The point is this: THREE licenses entitle one to seven plants each which would add up to 21 plants. Even if there was, in addition,  some dried Cannabis, the weight of the stems and stalks should never have been counted. And besides .. that case should never have wasted this much time in a court room with all of the costs associated. Three years later and there still hasn’t been a hearing.

It’s just plain wrong. Prosecuting this case is a waste of County money and it’s a waste of time. And it is NOW the LOWEST PRIORITY for the Department of Public Safety in this county to spend money on searching for Cannabis, arresting for Cannabis use or possession or prosecuting for Cannabis use or possession whenever such a case involves 24 or fewer plants for adult personal use.

With three adults on the property, the ordinance would suggest that if they had 60 plants and some dried material (the equivalent of 12 plants), then the police should walk away from that too. The prosecutor needs to go through the books and look at how many more cases like the two already posted here, are about cases involving ‘Adult Personal Use’ as defined by the ordinance.

Here’s that section of the ordinance again for anyone who wants to see just what Mr. Kimura won’t see. According to the law:

Section 14-100. “County Prosecuting Attorneys:”

To the full extent allowed by the Constitution of the State of Hawai‘i, the people, through their county government, request that neither the county prosecuting attorney nor any attorney prosecuting on behalf of the county shall prosecute any violations of the sections of chapter 712-1240 of the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes regarding possession or cultivation of cannabis in a manner inconsistent with the Lowest Law Enforcement Priority, as described in section 14-98 and 14-99 of this article; in cases where the amount possessed or grown is less than twenty four plants or the dried equivalent, possession for adult personal use shall be presumed.

The problem is they need to get it.. It’s the lowest priority. Wake up! The 35,000 voters who passed this ordinance don’t want you prosecuting any more cases of ‘adult personal use’.

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To compare with case #1, go to this link http://peacefulskyalliance.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=205&message=1

IF YOU KNOW OF A CASE OR ARE INVOLVED IN A CASE THAT INVOLVES 24 or fewer plants on private property and involving adults over the age of 21 years and you are being prosecuted by Hawaii County then please contact Peaceful Sky Alliance and let us know the details.

Mr. Kimura, please stop prosecuting cases of 'Adult Personal Use.'

The story of what happened to Seattle’s Chief Prosecutor who lost his job because he disrespected the Lowest Law Enforcement Priority of Cannabis Ordinance passed by Seattle voters:
Nobody bawled into their pillow last election night like City Attorney Tom Carr, an eight-year incumbent with the backing of labor unions and city hall, who was trounced by a 26-point margin. “I’m stunned. I thought this would be a tight race,” said challenger Pete Holmes after seeing the first batch of results.

Carr chalked up his drubbing to an “anti-incumbent year.” But that makes less than zero sense, considering Richard Conlin won a fourth term on the city council with over 77 percent support and Nick Licata coasted easily to a third term.

Voters were sick, specifically, of Carr’s bullshit: cracking down on popular clubs, ignoring a voter-approved measure to stop prosecuting marijuana-possession cases, subpoenaing reporters to name confidential sources, and pushing cases for years after the city should have dropped them.

In voting for Holmes, Seattle instituted a new directive for the city attorney, who acts as the city’s primary lawyer and prosecutes misdemeanors in the municipal court. Holmes vowed on the campaign trail to represent the wishes of the people. He’ll stop all pot-­possession prosecution and prize the music scene, he says, and coax the city officials to drop lawsuits when the city is wrong.

“Basically,” said Peter Holmes  “…this is Carr’s worst nightmare. The poor guy…”

The link to the article is : http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/election-2009-winners-and-losers/Content?oid=2708202

Image by James Moore

“The November 9 Supreme Court arguments on whether it is cruel and unusual to impose life in prison without parole on violent juveniles who have not killed anybody understandably got prominent media coverage,” a National Journal column reports.“But a far more important imprisonment story gets less attention because it’s a running sore that rarely generates dramatic “news.” That is our criminal-justice system’s incarceration of a staggering 2.3 million people, about half of them for nonviolent crimes, including most of the 500,000 locked up for drug offenses.” (From -November 13, 2009 National Journal read about it here: America’s Prison Spree Has Brutal Impact)

and just in .. news from Wall Street Journal  that U.S. Commission is  to Assess Mandatory Sentences

People who drank alchohol used to be the 'bad guys.'

“Congress has ordered the panel that advises judges on prison terms to conduct a review of mandatory-minimum sentences, a move that could lead to a dramatic rethinking of how the U.S. incarcerates its criminals,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “The review is a little-noticed element of the National Defense Authorization Act signed into law last month by President Barack Obama. The defense-spending bill calls on the commission to perform several tasks, including an examination of the impact of mandatory-minimum sentencing laws and alternatives to the practice.”  November 12, 2009 (Wall Street Journal)

It looks like this has been a big week for the Drug War. Take heed County of Hawaii. The American Medical Association has announced it will review the scheduling of Cannabis as a ‘dangerous drug’ (which it isn’t)  and a Commission of Judges is asked to review the practice of handing out harsh sentences for absurd ‘crimes’. 20 million prisoners later.. The Drug War is costing us way too much. The budget for Prosecutions in Hawaii County is 11 million dollars. That is a lot for an island with a population of 177,000 men women and children don’t you think?

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