The Truth

To: The United States Congress and Governor Rick Scott
of Florida

From: Rev. Frank Paul Jones

 

RE: Open Letter of Federal Marijuana Bill {HR 2306}

 

Date: 31 July 2011

 

The Marijuana Report on Federal Bill -
HR 2306 & a Florida
Redevelopment Act

 

The Federal Marijuana Bill HR- 2306 aka
The Frank Paul Bill

 

By: Rev. Frank Paul Jones – President of the NCNCHINC

 

HR-2306: To limit the
application of Federal Laws to the distribution and consumption of Marijuana,
and for other purposes.

.

On 23 June 2011; Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex) and Rep. Barney
Frank (D-Mass), introduced a bill sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank, that would
end the prohibition of marijuana by the Federal Government of the United States of America.  It would remove marijuana as a controlled
substance and limit the Federal Governments role to interstate transport,
leaving the states with the rights to legalize the drug.

 

According to the Associated Press, the bill is dead on
arrival as it meets opposition by Chairman of the Board of the House Judiciary
Committee Lamar Smith said it would not even be considered.

 

“Decriminalizing
marijuana will only lead to millions more Americans becoming addicted to drugs
and greater profits for drug cartels who fund violence along the U.S.-Mexico
border. Allowing states to determine their own marijuana policy flies in the
face of Supreme Court precedent,” Smith said.

However, the reality is that the movement to legalize
marijuana has reached the U.S.
Congress and it is a real issue that has to be addressed as we must reduce
spending.  As 1.1 million people or 1 out
of 6 in federal prison are in for marijuana related crimes.

 

Nobody knows how much is being spend to retain the
prohibition of marijuana.  Here are
things to consider:

 

Cost of keeping marijuana illegal:

• cost of active law enforcement +
• cost of prosecution (and defense!)
  of accused offenders +
• cost of incarceration of convicted
  offenders +
• billions of dollars in tax revenue
  that would be generated if drugs were legal and taxed +
• cost of foster care and social
  services for children of incarcerated offenders.

It
was estimated by the top economists that at a minimum the end of prohibition
would save us $10B to $14B annually instantly and our marijuana crop is now
worth about $34B and if taxed could bring in at least $7B annual tax revenue.

I
think the prohibition of marijuana is bad policy, because it is destroying too
many lives and is disenfranchising to many young Americans.  We have the soil to grow it and should take
the leadership position on this one.
However, I think we can increase our production 10 fold and tax this
drug at federal, state of production and state of retail and city. It would
still be cheaper than it is now on the streets and the government could pull in
huge revenues and the growers would make huge profits world wide as other
nations will follow our lead.

Fact:
100 seeds can produce as much as 5,000
Grams = 11 Pounds in 6 to 9 months.

Here in the
Heartland of Florida,
we have the fertile soil, sunlight and plenty water. This law could save tour
economy, therefore it has to be at least debated.

If HR: 2306 is passed by the 112th Congress, what will
it mean to the, the Nation, the state of Florida
and the East Coast?  What the FEDS put on
the table is a budget cutting action.
The Federal Government is about to get smaller and the decision to
downsize will be written in stone once the Debt Ceiling is raised.  Many services must be reduced as well as law
enforcement groups.

 

It is my position that for there to be relevant changes
in how we accomplish the economic recovery and maintain smaller government,
there has to be legislative changes all the way down to the ordinances in our
Cities throughout the nation and HR 2306 is an example of how to create more
revenue and both execute smaller government thru legislative change.

 

It is my hope that not only does this bill be passed
but also be modified because it does not address an important issue if
marijuana is ultimately legalized by the State of Florida and other states on
the East Coast and for that matter other nations in the world.

 

The issue is commerce:  Florida and California are the main
potential production states of  marijuana
in our Nation.  These two states depend
on agriculture and both got hit hard by mortgage foreclosures.  Both states need money bad and the marijuana
crop is the U.S.
most valued crop and could be a turning point for both economies.    As California is well on their way Florida is a backwards state with a lot of
oppressive ordinances, laws and rules and we need legislative changes ASAP.

 

The problem with HR 2306 as it is written is that it
does not allow interstate commerce of marijuana which hurts large scale
production states that could immensely profit from its exportation.

 

As the law stands this could create a pipeline for the
underworld and the government will lose a lot of money as a result of illegal
transport across state lines.  Interstate
commerce has to be addressed in this bill.

 

Here in Highlands
County and the Heartland of Florida, we have a lot
of unsheltered territory.  We have a
agriculture market that is weakening as fruit prices are going up due to labor
shortages, farmers are having a difficult time clearing their trees as less
workers are laboring the fields.  Why?  Because the pay is too low for the work and
we depend on foreign labor?  These are
the type of issues that must be addressed.

 

A HR: 2306 addendum should be added to allow
interstate transport from one state to another by air or ground or sea to any
state or country that allows legal marijuana sales.

 

The state of Florida
and the state of California
are our main agriculture states.  The
Florida Department of Agriculture has to be subsidized by marijuana growers in the
state of Florida.  Understand marijuana is a weed and it will
grow plentiful in the Heartland of Florida.  Here we have plenty open space to produce the
crop, sunlight and water, but we cannot simply replace agriculture farmers with
marijuana farmers we must protect our food industry in America.  So farmers has to have an incentive to grow
food to the bank.

 

Marijuana Farming should have legislative intent  that goes beyond the obvious which is smaller
government and new tax revenues from a new source.  And it should address many other issues
contingent to the legalization of marijuana in Florida.

 

Things on the fly that should be address:

 

#1: Marijuana Agriculture subsidy Act of Florida:

 

When you have two crops that come from the same place
and one cost $1,500 per pound and another $.99 per pound.  They have to balance out at the department
labor and the supermarket.  By keeping
marijuana at high prices we can lower the prices of fruits and vegetables and
increase the wages of the agricultural labor force.

 

#2: Marijuana Fair Licensing Act: 

 

Let us face it, most of the farmers already control
the land to produce the crops here in the Heartland.  Most of the contracts will naturally go to
the agriculture farmers to grow the marijuana crop, but not all the fields, as
a marijuana plant the size of a football field could produce a million dollars
in crops annually easily.

 

A) Only citizens of the United
States of America and Florida
can commercially farm marijuana in the State Florida.

 

B) Minorities have to be guaranteed a percentage of
the cultivation licenses and worldwide distribution and like I said part “and
a mean a nice slice of the state taxes” must go to subsidize the fruit and
vegetable industry here in the State of Florida
and the Heartland.  This has to be fair
and reasonable for both sides.

 

C) Permanent residents of the state should have a
priority for the employment on marijuana plants on location in Florida and the
Heartland, to include positions such as security of these valued crops and the
harvesting of them as well as packaging.

 

D) Military Veterans should have a priority as venders/distributors
of Marijuana.  Venders must be Florida citizens without
a felony conviction or with pardon/clemency from the Federal government or
state from which he/she distributes out of.

 

3) The Florida
Infrastructure Development Act: 

 

After we subsidize agriculture of off the top, to
secure our labor forces and bring down the price of fruits and vegetables.  Insure that this market is a living wages industry
and protect our local labor force, we have to set an agenda to help our overall
economy.  Here the governor has to set
his own initiative.  We need public
transportation here in Highlands County and the Heartland in the form of buses
and connecting trains and buses to the high speed rail going into production as
a nationwide transport network and hub.

 

My Personal Story about Marijuana

 

I must first mention a person close to me, he is
mentally ill and suffers from Bipolar Disorder.
As a result of long term use of psychotropic (20 years), he become
diabetic and also has high cholesterol and high blood pressure, all treatable
with medications.  

 

It does not stop there, as a result of these illnesses
he has a further complication, he is only 52 years old and suffers from
Erectile Dysfunction.

 

It does not stop there, as a result of work he done
for the DOD that required him to put a lot of pressure on the optic nerves in
his eyes, his optic nerves are enlarged and he is a candidate for
glaucoma.  Other than that he is a
healthy middle age man.

 

As a result of his Bipolar, he once stayed awake for
about 3 months as a result from insomnia.
So the VA also gives him sleeping medications.  This is all documented facts in his medical
records at the VA and not hearsay.

 

Then he discovered marijuana: 

 

It helps him sleep, relaxes him as needed, helps him
eat and has no known serious side effects. The problem is however that the
government spends thousands of dollars on medications that are killing him
slowly.  Whereby he requires about 1 to 2
ounces per month of marijuana that he cannot afford it.  Therefore he may have consider illegal
activities to support his medical uses of this drug.  Because the medications he is receiving at
the VA causes too many side effects.

 

He has to smoke Marijuana to be able to enjoy healthy
sexual activity and both sleep as the sleeping meds counteract the ED
pills.  His sleeping and relaxation meds
does not allow healthy erection, I could go on, but I will admit the person
is me.  And sometimes I just want to
sleep after sexual activity.

 

I am at the point where smoking marijuana is a life
saving activity.  The medications I am
taking is going to kill me by unrelated physical illnesses induced by the
psychotropic meds.

 

Now must I have to live like a criminal, I cannot get
a good part time job due to hot urine, so must I resort to crime eventually as
disability is not enough to support this need for medications not prescribed
and cannot be prescribe to me. 

 

Suggestion:

 

Find the right candidates thru the VA Health System
and do a Federally Funded Clinical Test on Marijuana using Volunteers from the
VA, before you toss the bill test it a year or so.

 

Request:

 

Put me on the top of the list:

 

Medical Use of Marijuana Should Be Researched by the FEDS:

The medical use of marijuana has been
known since ancient times.

Here’s a list of the most popular medical conditions marijuana is famous for
alleviating:

Asthma: over 15,000,000 Americas are
affected with asthma. Marijuana would be beneficial for 80% of them if it were
available. The treatment of marijuana
and asthma has been used for thousands of years – it is a proven medical
treatment.

Glaucoma: causes 14% of all
blindness in America.
Marijuana smoking would help thousands that suffer from it.

Tumors: both benign and
malignant (cancerous) tumors have reacted promisingly to the medical use of
marijuana. Marijuana was given a bad name through yellow journalism. It was
said to cause health problems – when instead it has been successfully used in
tumor research – millions of individuals have used it for treating themselves
after the bad effects of conventional medicine.

Cancer:
marijuana
and cancer, nausea relief (Aids, cancer therapy, sea sickness) are all
treated successfully with marijuana.

Chemotherapy
treatment has some nasty side effects that include nausea. When the patient is
already in such bad condition, not being able to eat is just too much -
marijuana treatment is the best known way for these people to combat the nausea
caused by chemotherapy.

Epilepsy: 60% of epilepsy
patients would benefit by marijuana smoking. Smoking marijuana is also a major
source of relief for Multiple Sclerosis and other nervous systems and muscular
weaknesses. Tremors and Back Pain are among this group of ailments that respond
favorably to smoking marijuana.

Antibiotic
CBD disinfectants: medical use of marijuana has been proven as an
antibiotic. There are many uses for a cannabinoid, including treatments for
gonorrhea and herpes. If research were allowed, CBD antibiotics would, without
a doubt, be used in every hospital.

Arthritis: and other ailments
like Cystic fibrosis and Rheumatism benefited from the marijuana topical
analgesic until 1937. Marijuana was in nearly all conventional medicine before
it was outlawed – without any proof or reason what-so-ever. Smoking marijuana
is good for some ailments, but for others the topical treatment really gets to
the problem.

Lung
Cleaner: smoking marijuana is the best way to clean the lungs of smog,
dust, and phlegm associated with tobacco. People that have become addicted to
tobacco have switched to marijuana smoking and find it is far better for their
lungs and health in general. Marijuana is not addictive in the same way tobacco
is – it can be done, without withdrawals.

Sleeping
and relaxation: marijuana lowers blood pressure and dilates the arteries – relieves
stress – creates a feeling of happiness and contentment. Most all conventional
sleep and relaxants have bad long range effects, and many people complain about
short range bad effects. Marijuana has no short or long range side effects.

Heart
Disease and Marijuana

Uses
of Medical Marijuana

Marijuana
and Medical Use

How
to Use Medical Marijuana

Marijuana
Medical Use

Marijuana
depression click on the chart image below to see the full spectrum of
marijuana’s therapeutic use.

Medical
use of marijuana is so broad it is hard to imagine how or why the whole world
of people would do without this most needed medicine.

If
conventional medicine had a track record like medical marijuana, we would only
need a few doctors because everybody would be healthy and laughing most all the
time like they do when they are able to enjoy their marijuana. Happiness is
getting the use of marijuana full time for everyone in the world.

Marijuana
brain-marijuana and emphysema – marijuana and migraines – marijuana and
appetite -marijuana
Alzheimer’s- and many other ailments are treated today with the illegal
medicine with good results and NO SIDE EFFECTS.

Conventional
medicine, can’t make any claim their drugs won’t cause more medical problems
than they cure. The side effects are so outrageous it is a wonder so many
educated people are so passive as to accept such risky stuff they call
medicine. The medical use of marijuana is getting more important to sick people
all the time.

Medical
marijuana research ,Marijuana is the most important medicine on the face of
the earth – none other has ever come close! Medical
Marijuana Uses are beneficial for any human immune system. Real medicine,
for healing the ailments other kinds of medicine won’t begin to deal with.

 

 

Below is a reservoir of info.  HR: 2306 & Hyperlinks:

 

Hyperlinks:

 

New Federal
Bill put before the Congress to Repeal Marijuana Prohibition HR 2306:

 

Federal
Marijuana Law:

 

Florida
Marijuana Law:

 

Nationwide
state by state – Marijuana Laws:

 

The Price
to Keep Marijuana Illegal:

 

Medical
Marijuana Directory:

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Rev. Frank Paul Jones