Why are we piecemealing legislation?

[morsap]

Why hasn't some clever attorney and/or citizens thought to actually sue the government over the use of medical marijuana? A "simple" suit would take it out of the expense of the individual courts and put it front and center in the consciousness of every American and American institutions. A simple question.

 

[ShiggityFlip]

I feel like doing a big suit without any precedence is doomed for failure. Peace meal takes time but it is like taking bricks out of the wall of legislation. Enough bricks removed and the wall will come down by itself.

 

[OlderGrower]

While it would put it in the public eye you also have to take a look at the way the system is set up right now. With the standing supreme court decision of Citizens United, it would allow everyone from the Koch brothers to Monsanto to aid in the financial opposition of the lawsuit.
These super rich can afford to not only buy off our economy but have enough funds to buy off our government. They will simply either buy off the courts or tie up the proceeding for years and years to come. The Koch brothers alone are spending over 900 million dollars this year on the presidential election through super-pacs. That is just 2 people. Now throw in every big Pharma corporation and the lobbies for the private prison system and every other organization that profits from locking people up for MJ and your looking at not millions to spend on tying up the lawsuit but BILLIONS. It would be like going into a Texas hold-em tournament where there was no limit on how many chips you could buy in with and hoping to win. Even if every man woman and child in America donated 10 dollars to the lawsuit, that would only be 3.6 billion dollars. The Koch brothers alone could afford to pay twice that much, heck 4 times that much if they thought it would make them more money down the road. Lawsuits cost money, and unfortunately the the super rich have so much wealth you can not outspend them, even if you got everyone in America to join in. The Walton family alone has more wealth then the bottom 40% of all people in America combined.

While I think it would raise the consciousness of the American people, it would make one headline then be buried away deep in the courts and never heard of again.
Yes we did it with the tobacco companies, but keep in mind, they claimed that smoking did not cause cancer, and it was only the tobacco industry we went after. This is so much larger then just the tobacco industry. It is the private prison systems, it is the unions of the guards who work at the private prisons, it is big Pharma, it is the police unions, the list is huge and goes on and on. They all make money by having it illegal and will not give up that easy cash without a fight. Then you throw "Citizens United on top of the deal and every politician who gets their funding from super-pacs, which is almost every single one of them, they will not want to let go of that easy money.
This is going to be a hard fought fight and it needs to be neighborhood by neighborhood, town by town, county by county, state by state, through educating the public, getting people motivated to speak their minds and force the issue through democratic means. When we the people can stand together, and send a clear message that enough is enough, they will know they have no other option, but it has to be a united front.

 

[Rifleman]

What OG said.

 

[420 Warrior]

Seconded, what OG said

I'll also add this...Get everyone you know and even everyone you don't know involved. Get them coming here and learning how to spread the word with the education to back it up. Every closet Cannabis user and every openly Cannabis user needs to come together and get involved in this fight. We need to all sign petitions, write letters to our government officials and keep doing that every chance we get and get everyone else we can doing the same.

4 states and 1 district legalized for recreational use and 23 MMJ states is no where near good enough when so many people still suffer in pain from debilitating diseases and hundreds of thousands on innocent people sit rotting away in prison as their kids suffer without their parents as we speak. Can you even imagine what it's like to not be able to spend Christmas with the family you love because of a natural harmless plant? Or to be crying out in pain and not able to enjoy life, all the while knowing there is medicine out there that can help you but the government says you can't have any of it?

In my opinion, anyone who just sits back and doesn't get involved in helping this cause is just being selfish at best. People need to show some compassion and do their part to help the ones who can't help themselves. If you are here on this site and you are unwilling to help end Cannabis prohibition then you should be ashamed of yourself. There is way more to this place than just growing plants people, get in there and get involved and stay involved...PLEASE, WE REALLY NEED YOUR HELP!!!